In Every Universe
by tearctic
Summary: Brynn Price moves to La Push on a whim after her father receives an unusual phone call from Chief Black. Dealing with a new school, a new home, and ultimately a new life, she's just trying to keep it together until the next move. When she meets the Pack's Hot Head, things start going a little lopsided. Anything recognizable belongs to Stephanie Meyer (even though I wish it didn't).
1. Something

**SOMETHING NEW**

_Brynn_

"**T**ell me you aren't serious."

After nearly thirteen hours of driving, I had been under some sort of impression that the destination would be worth it. I had seen the beaches a few miles back, had noticed the cute little trails and shops all around, and it had given me a miniscule amount of hope that things might genuinely be better this time around.

This, however, was not what I had in mind.

It was a small bungalow house, a tan color with decorative dark brown boards put in vertically every few feet. The large front porch was painted to match the boards, plants having grown to naturally decorate the wood, foliage and ivy, determined in this cold weather to stay alive, were trimmed to look purposeful- not messy. The windows of the living room were old fashioned, two small rectangles on either side of a longer one with the shutters painted white, which could only leave me hoping for a window seat. I could see a single set of windows for the second floor, already opened with sheer white curtains blowing out of them, like something out of a horror film. It wasn't bad, we had lived in dingy apartments and houses with paint-peeling walls, but my dad had sworn that it would feel like a home. I hadn't ever witnessed what _home_ felt like, moved from town to town and state to state too much to think the word had any verifiable meaning, and so I couldn't feel it now.

Really, I had been thirsting after a new life, I just hadn't expected for my father, James, to decide now was the best time of all to seek that. He received a phone call from a friend, one that I hadn't heard mentioned in years, and suddenly we were up and moving to the Quileute Reservation as if it was our own. I wasn't necessarily upset by it; I didn't have many friends that I was leaving behind, and my love life had been the equivalent to something like NASCAR, going around in circles and never getting anywhere. But, then again, could that really be any different from the average high schooler, the ones that stayed in their hometowns and went to parties every weekend, falling in and out of love, breaking and having broken hearts? My main problem was the fact that we were moving to an area where we really shouldn't be- this wasn't our land to call home. My mother had been of Quileute descent, born and raised on the very ground we stood on now, before meeting James Price, getting knocked up, and skipping town in less than a year. I knew I had the tan skin, the dark features, but there was no mistaking me for being native to the area; I was just as much my dad as my mother.

My father, James, was a tall and white man with salt and pepper hair cut at his ears who liked to pretend he needed glasses despite that they didn't come with a prescription. He had the build of healthy guys in their late thirties, but with a bit more muscle. He was stubborn and hard working, but always gentle when it came to me and what he believed I needed, and when it came down to it, he was all I had in this world. It sounded pathetic, my best friend being my dad, but if people saw it from my perspective I thought they might understand: we moved, we changed, and the only thing we weren't touch and go with were each other.

He had already exited the car, eager to see what the place looked like without a windshield in his way. The smile on his face that was far too big for me to hold on to the little disappointment I had stored in me. It was always the same display; me housing disappointment, my father being the water can that doused any ill feelings I had towards our new situations. This time though, James was looking around and taking deep pulls of the air, as if he had just come back home after a long vacation and had missed that smell.

Maybe it wouldn't be _too_ bad.

"This is home sweet home, Rin," he said, moving towards the U-Haul attached to the back of the truck. "Go inside and check it out, I'm going to start unloading boxes."

I caught the keychain he tossed my way, two golden keys hooked on to a little silver ring, and exhaled before moving towards the front door. The keys weren't a necessity; the door was already unlocked, a little handwritten note left on the porch railing explaining that whoever had been here last wasn't sure if we had a set or not. When I walked inside, the scent of fresh paint and new wood filled my nose instantly as I stepped into the small walkway. It was clear the flooring was new, a light hardwood spreading throughout the entire space, pairing well with the freshly painted beige walls. Furniture had already been put inside; a soft, dark brown sectional pressed against one of the walls, the open side of it letting the light in from the window. My suspicions about a window seat had been correct: the window overlooking the drive was decorated with a white cushion and two pillows pressed against the wall of one side. A simple rectangular coffee table acted as the centerpiece, an entertainment center settled against the wall opposite of the window seat. The hall led to what I assumed was a bedroom and a bathroom.

The glare from the sun on to the TV would be awful, but I decided I would let my dad handle that problem. The thought of him grumbling as he rearranged things almost made me smile.

The kitchen was simple; a dark table paired with matching chairs, the counters all being a light granite color. Tucked to one side of the kitchen, behind the back door, was a set of stairs. I could tell the steps of them were new; the wood silent under my feet as I walked up. The loft it led to was by far my favorite part of the house. The flooring was a darker hardwood, the walls painted the same beige color as downstairs, but the dresser that rested across from the exit, just below the window, was white, matching the paint of the bed stand. The window overlooked the little drive way, and I could see my father had gotten a decent amount of boxes out of the trailer. To the back of the loft was an indentation with a bar running across it, where I could hang my clothes. And just beside that, sliding glass doors that led out to the roof, overlooking the backyard. The glass offered me a good look at myself, and I pursed my lips at the reflection. My dark brown hair was tied up in a bun that was at one point decent, but had slipped into something that resembled a mudslide. My tan skin looked a little lifeless, bags under my almond shaped eyes from switching driving shifts with my father at one in the morning, and they drooped a little, causing my brown eyes to look a little tired, too. I was dressed in simple running shorts and a T-Shirt, discouraged from my father because of the chilly January air, but a requirement for me to get any sleep in the car.

Despite how exhausted I was, I decided then that it really wasn't _too_ bad at all.

By the time I had finally left the house to meet with my father, there were two other men there helping him carry things to the house. They were both tall with dark features and shortly clipped hair and tan skin, all a dead giveaway that they were locals on the reservation. The men were both dressed in basketball shorts and decided to skip the shirt, something I tried not to notice for longer than would be acceptable. Was it at all acceptable to ogle shirtless men in my driveway? It was growing deeper into cold weather, winter just around the corner, and yet they were shirtless? I was suddenly self conscious about my hair, reaching up to try to reshape it casually as I approached.

The men watched me walk towards them, both wearing friendly smiles on their faces. "Look alright?" One called out as he set down yet another box near the porch, causing James to step out of the U Haul to look at me as well.

I smiled politely, leaning a shoulder against the truck. "It's actually pretty great, I was a little worried at first."

James rolled his eyes to both of the guys. "Rin, this is Sam and Jared, they helped patch this baby up for us. Boys, this is my daughter, Brynn."

I offered a tight lipped smile, feeling guilty for openly expressing my worries about the house. It was just my luck, trying to joke around about my house looking a little rough to the exact guys who tried to prevent that problem. I had that problem often, saying exactly what didn't need to be said. "I- uh. It's really nice, the paint and the new floors. How long did this take you?"

"Not very," Jared said, a proud smile on his face as he shrugged, bracing his arm on the truck and letting the muscle in his bicep bulge a bit more than the action called for. He was smug, proud of the work he did despite what I had said, and it eased my guilt just a pinch.

"Mostly thanks to Paul, though," Sam laughed. "He's got a problem with competing with himself on every little thing he does. He took out all of the previous dressers and tables, put some homemade ones in for you guys."

At that, my eyebrows shot up. "You're kidding," I said, looking back at the house with a new tilt to my head. It was hard to imagine one man being able to carve, sand, and paint all the edges and curves of the furniture up in my room. I could always admire a good artist, and whoever Paul was, he was making chairs and tables that looked like they came straight out of Ikea, even better. My head turned back to the guys slowly, my smile a little softer now, a little more open. "You'll have to thank him for me, I was expecting to have to spend a fortune on my bedroom."

I stepped out of the way as my dad walked by with a large box. "You guys hungry? We've got pizza on the way," he offered over his shoulder, and I watched as the two guys exchanged a look.

"We've got to get back; I'm sure Emily's got dinner waiting, and Jared has school tomorrow." Sam ruffled Jared's hair, who ducked away a second too late. I was just distracted by the fact that one of them was in school still. Were they not in their twenties?

True to their word, they didn't stick around for longer than a goodbye once everything was unloaded and most things were set up. They had been good company though, bantering with one another and able to handle it when I joined in, even occasionally dishing it back. It took some of the weight off of my shoulders about being in a new place and once again not knowing anyone; you would think that after doing it so often, I would find it easier and easier each time. Usually that was true, but I felt the need to talk with Sam and Jared as if putting myself out there this time would be worth it. My father had said over and over that this would be home for them, that there would be no moving after this, and maybe that was why I felt the pull towards making new friends. Maybe these ones would last.

That brought up the next hurtle: school. Dad always tried to convince me that I needed to give the area a few days before rushing in, to ease into it. It didn't work. Before we had even made it to Seattle, I had him on the phone with the Quileute Tribal School, figuring out when I could show up and what credits I would need to complete my junior year sufficiently. I hadn't been surprised by the situation; he always tried to get me to cut herself some slack, but I was relentless, preferred to take the leaps before they took me, and that meant diving into a new high school before I had time to make myself anxious about it.

We talked about it over pizza. "Are you sure about Wednesday? You still have unpacking to do, you need to explore La Push more," dad was saying, dabbing at his mouth as he watched a black-eyed Dean Winchester beat the brakes off of some guy.

"Positive. If I don't do it now, I will freak myself out and try to do homeschool again. Remember homeschool?" I was in the window seat, feet kicked up, picking up fallen banana peppers and putting them back on my pizza slice. Weird combo, but if you heard the rest of what went on it, you wouldn't stick around.

He laughed, nodding his head at the memory. "I never thought a kid could go that stir crazy. Was good for your training, though. Don't think you've missed a shot since."

Ah, yes. Training. James Price had taken to teaching his daughter archery and fighting since I could remember. He never said why, and I never asked after the first few shut downs; it was something to do, afterall. During homeschool, I would be finished with my assignments far too early and left with the entire rest of my day to do nothing, so I spent it on target practice and learning new moves that dad hadn't taught me yet, sometimes he hadn't even heard of them. It was nice to be teaching him something every now and then.

"I'm going down to Billy Blacks tomorrow, got some stuff he wants me to help out with. You want to come out? Jacob might be there, could show you around a little bit." Billy Black was the reason we were here now, why we packed up our belongings and left the chill of Nowhere Town, Indiana to instead plummet into the deep blue of the Pacific Northwest.

"Yeah, that sounds fun," I said, uncommitted. We ate the rest of our pizza in silence, the sounds of Supernatural filling the gap for us.

It was only nine by time I was making my way towards the staircase, so exhausted by the driving and moving in that I didn't even bother flipping on the TV before face-planting into the bed. My dad had long since past out on the couch downstairs, so there was no reason to force myself to stay up longer than I wanted to. On my side, I pressed my fingertip to my lips before pressing it into the glass of a picture frame on my bedside table, my mother's face momentarily being covered. It was a photo of my mother and father at the beach, his hands placed protectively on her swollen stomach as they cheesed at the camera. I hadn't ever met my mother, didn't know her from a stranger on the street, but the amount of love I felt whenever I looked at that photo told me enough.

"Welcome home, mom," I whispered, before turning my back on the photo and giving in to the pull of sleep.


	2. Lucky

**LUCKY FOR ME**

_Paul_

I made it to third hour before finally feeling like I was close enough to snapping to let Jared pull me out of the room by the neck of my shirt, making sure my middle finger was high up enough in the air for Mr. Kinley to see. Really, once I cooled down, I'd realize that it wasn't that big of a deal, that I should've been able to grit my teeth and breathe through the taunting, but I wasn't at that point yet, so. Fuck him. It was just poking at me, calling me out for not reading the assignment from the day before, in which I hadn't even attended class. Really, if that old bastard knew what I had been out doing all night instead of his piece of shit assignment, he wouldn't ever think twice about giving me anything but an A. Plus plus plus.

"Alright, Hulk Smash, why don't you take a time out now?" Jared's voice was dripping with faux emotion, eyes locking mine just to roll at my expense. His arm came out to wrap around my shoulders, chummy as ever. "Embry is going to be so bummed out, man. He thought you could make it to lunch, what a dumbass."

I couldn't do much more than shoot him a dirty look, my teeth clenched so tightly together that my jaw would ache if I didn't have the benefit of natural healing rolling through my body. It wasn't like I hadn't heard about their little bet; they were such shit at keeping their thoughts to themselves, it was a miracle it took until last night for me to catch on to any of it. Embry's thoughts had been racing a mile a minute, internally bragging that he had been phased for a month less than I had and was already romping around school again, meanwhile I was having a hard time doing anything but mouth off and take off. Jared had been on a spiel about how betting on my anger would make him a millionaire one day, trying to figure out if he would prefer a vacation home in Aruba or Bora Bora. The memory had me shoving Jared's arm off of me, probably too hard by the way he grabbed at it a bit afterwards, before I was taking off to the cafeteria.

Yeah, I had some piece of shit company around these days.

Of course, Jared was quick to keep up, bringing up his hand to ruffle it through my hair, murmuring about how I was a 'good boy'. "Fuck off," I bit out, wondering if breaking his finger would be worth it when there were a couple people milling around.

"Aw, come on, Pauly," the other boy crooned, flashing a gleaming white smile that was everything but comforting. "Don't be like that."

It had the desired results as my hands unclenched and my lips twitched up into the faintest smile, eyes rolling more out of amusement than annoyance. "Can't you ever leave me the fuck alone, Cameron?" I snapped, but the fire that had been paired with my words before wasn't present anymore.

Knowing he had already won, Jared only grinned back.

Fucking bitch.

The ten minutes that we had dipped out on for class trickled by slowly, Jared trying to make it pass by faster by filling me in on all that I had missed on last night's patrol. He spoke softly, lips barely moving despite the lack of other students around us, used to needing to keeping this part of our lives private. It was the same thing as usual; we caught her sent, we saw her, and she got away. It was frustrating, to say the least. No matter what side we came at, no matter what move we made, she was always two steps ahead of us, red hair like a flag. The last time I had been on patrol and seen her, I had pushed my body hard, muscle so pulled that even with the wolf's healing abilities, I was sore for a couple hours. It didn't matter in the end; my teeth had only ripped into her jacket before she had flung herself into the ocean, shooting off like a bullet.

"It's like she always knows what we're going to do," Embry said, taking a seat beside me as more students began to fill the room, classes being let out. We had already filed down the line to get our food, trying to get there first to make less of a spectacle about our meal proportions. "And she's always circling back from Forks, or trying to get to Forks. There's something she wants there."

"Friend of the Cullens, maybe?" Jared offered, only for me to shake my head while looking at my taco. I forgot cheese.

"No, the Cullens left. Remember when Sam found Swan's daughter in the woods? That was their not-so-sweet goodbye." The last word was sneered, a large bite being taken out of my taco as I remembered that day. It was before Embry had joined, but Sam, Jared, and I had been running the area to try and help, and I could so vividly picture the girl curled up in my mind, as if Sam's memories were my own. "Whatever she's here for, it doesn't have anything to do with them."

The two of them took a few minutes to think things out themselves, a silent exchange of a ten dollar bill being passed from Embry to Jared that had me kicking someone's leg under the table. I didn't really care who's it was, but I couldn't hold back a laugh as Embry's face scrunched ever so slightly. Then there was a whiff of something floral, maybe a hint of lilac, and suddenly a girl was standing behind Embry.

"Uh, hey," she muttered awkwardly, her thumbnail scratching at her backpack strap. She was definitely new, I would have remembered seeing her around the reservation before this. "Embry, I was wondering if I could get your number?" My jaw fell. "People have told me that you tend to ditch out a lot, and I'm not doing this entire biology project by myself." My jaw closed.

Jared and I made a chorus of ooh's, like a couple of school children seeing their friend getting yelled at. We couldn't help it, especially because it was Embry. The kid took being called out like a toddler being told no; he just couldn't handle it. His face turned a few shades darker as he muttered about people needing to mind their business, but he turned to straddle the bench so that he could take her phone from her hands. It was then that I was able to get a good look at her, her face angled to the side as she stepped over to make room for Embry's knee. She wasn't from around here, that much was obvious; her skin was sunkissed, a slightly darker shade being used to paint freckles across her nose, and her teeth dug into a full bottom lip. Her hair was bordering on chestnut, maybe a shade too dark to be described that way, and her lashes touched her eyebrows when she momentarily looked from Jared to where I sat. Before he had the chance to drag my eyes up to hers, she was looking back at Embry.

She didn't hang around after Embry returned her phone with the promise of keeping in touch, but I had caught the soft greeting she offered Jared before she completely walked away. "Who was that?" I was quick to ask, craning my head slightly to watch her retreating body. If I stared a little too long at where her leggings hugged her ass, who was judging me? Getting familiar with the people I was protecting was a must, wasn't it? My head slowly turned to look at my pack brothers, and Embry shaking his head.

"I've got total fucking dibs, man." The way he said it was almost desperate, as if he knew there wasn't a point in competing with me. There wasn't. "She just asked me for my number, are you kidding?"

I smirked, shrugging. "She asked for your number because she knows she got stuck with a piece of shit bio partner, man. Besides, dibs are completely misogynistic."

Jared coughed into his milk carton. "The only reason you know that word is because your latest conquest called you that when you didn't call her back."

"Exactly!" Embry yelled, gesturing to Jared to emphasize his point.

"But," Jared continued, smiling at the way Embry's face fell. "You did just completely remodel her house, so you would have a pretty good in."

"Oh?" I leaned forward, elbows on the table as I nonchalantly let my eyes travel back over to where the girl sat. She was with a couple of the girls who hung around after school to play volleyball in the gym, no school team making them improvise, and I winced slightly. I had pissed off a couple of them before, and didn't expect my chances with the new girl to go smoothly if that was the company she kept. As if she could sense me looking, she turned to glance over at me, and I snapped my eyes back to Jared immediately. "She's the Price girl?"

Sam came to me saying that there was a construction job he had gotten for me, and I had taken the opportunity for money eagerly. I definitely had gone overboard; ripping out the entire flooring just to put in something that looked nice, making sure the paint I chose matched with everything. I even reinstalled sliding doors in the loft and decorated the roof area with a couple of chairs and a nice little table, built and painted a dresser just so it would match the bed stand, and had even handpicked the curtains and rugs that went throughout the home. It was way more than I should've done, especially since my senior year had been filled with me not showing up and a growing pile of homework, but I had Chief Black's okay to dip into the tribal fund to make the house look as good as I could. I even painted the damn shutters.

"Names Brynn," Jared informed around a mouthful of taco, sour cream dripping from the corner of his lips. "Told me to tell you thanks, by the way."

I wadded up a napkin and threw it at his face. "For what? Haven't even gotten the chance to touch her yet." I bounced my eyebrows twice, Jared cackling as Embry rolled his eyes.

Okay, so. I liked women, why was that so bad? Appreciating female anatomy was something that I felt like more people should do, and since they weren't, I was picking up their slack. Maybe I didn't call every girl back, but I made a point to always tell them what was going on and where I was at in the situation. If I made my intentions clear and they were still interested, how was it my fault if they got their feelings hurt?

"I can't wait for you to imprint and all of this come back to bite you in the ass, man," Embry said, shoving a handful of Doritos into his mouth. "Do you hear the shit you say sometimes?"

It was my turn to roll my eyes. There was no way in hell I would ever be imprinting; the world simply wasn't the cruel. There were reasons I didn't bother with dating, didn't let girls stay long if I felt like they were getting too comfortable, and it wasn't just because I occasionally sported paws and a fluffy tail. I had a nice little woe-is-me story under my belt, and it had me fucked up in more ways than one. The universe wouldn't force that on someone, I simply refused to believe it.

"Lucky for me, imprinting is rare," I said, taking a long swig from my water bottle and glancing over in Brynn's direction again. Her head was turning away at the same second again, and I had to keep myself from smirking. Hook, line, now I just needed the sinker. "Besides, whoever and wherever my imprint is, she's bagging guys left and right and having a good ole time doing it. She's cool, laid back, and wont give a fuck about what I was doing before I met her."

"You'd really be okay with that?" Jared piped up. "I don't know who mine is or if I'll ever meet her, but the idea of her touching someone else makes me feel sick. Might just be the wolf, but."

When Embry nodded in agreement, I shook my head but stayed silent. Truth be told, I didn't let myself think about the chances of imprinting often enough to feel something about what mine would be doing, who it could be, or what she would think. I didn't have any opinions on it either. I'd never been intimate with anyone; sex was easy, but intimacy? The thought of it made me shudder. Not for my sake, but for the sake of whoever had been destined to spend their life with someone like me.

Yeah, no. I'll keep far away from whoever the hell my imprint is.

"She's on the move, Paul," Jared said, head tilting in the direction the Brynn had been sitting in. He was right, she was leaving her table of girls behind to head towards the exit, phone pressed to her ear as she went. "Better make your move."

"Watch and learn, pup," I teased, winking at Embry as I stood to take my tray up before making my way towards the cafeteria doors. I had just caught sight of her, leaning against the wall and smiling at whoever was on the other end of the phone- long distance boyfriend, maybe?- when a howl ripped through the air. It wasn't loud, Sam was probably far away and making sure that he didn't scare the kids at our K-12 school, but Jared and Embry were behind me just as I made for the nearest exit.

"Think he got her?" Embry asked once we got outside and in the safety of the woods, stripping down.

"No way in hell, but he must be close if he's calling for us."

I didn't bother with tying my shorts in my string, the anger of my pack brother rippling through me despite not even being phased yet. It was an understanding; a threat on our land meant that we were all pissed off, all ready to do whatever we needed to in order to ensure the safety of our people.

I phased and bolted, my mind being filled with Sam's location before Embry and Jared phased in, too.

_Let's go bag ourselves a redheaded bitch, boys. _


	3. Scarlet

**SCARLET**

_Brynn_

The first day of school was going better than I had expected. I wasn't sure if it was the small population or people just being more caught up in themselves than the new girl who didn't belong there, but I had only gotten a handful of people making small talk and guys making shameless attempts at flirting, though the stares were double those numbers. I made nice with a couple people in each class, just to ensure I had go-to partners and people to small talk with when class was over before the tone sounded. Jacob Black was in a study hall with me, which made me feel better. We had hung out in his garage a couple days ago along with his friends Quil, another reservation resident, and a girl from Forks named Bella.

"_Must feel pretty special," I had joked to her once we had all sat down, glass bottles of soda in hand. "I hear it's not everyday they let a pale face hang around."_

_Jacob and Quil both laughed at my tease, but the girl's face had gone stone solid for a second before she put on a polite smile and nodded her head. All she said was, "Yeah." _

So, to say the least, I wasn't very interested in Bella, but Jacob and Quil were both a riot to be around. More than once they went into full brawls over stupid things (Quil trying to tell Jacob how to hold a wrench, Jacob telling Quil that his name was stupid, etc), and the pointers I gave them had them planning out a wrestling match with me sometime.

"_You only wish you could take me," I scoffed, crossing my arms over my chest like I wasn't a solid foot shorter than the pair of them. _

"_Brynn if you wanted me to ask you out, all you had to do was ask," Quil shot back, toothy grin on his face as he dodged the swing I took at his arm. _

It was nice and the closest thing I had to genuine friends in my life, even if it was just that first interaction. Just like before, with Sam and Jared, the conversation fell easily and the atmosphere felt right. The only thing that stiffened the situation was little Bella and Jacob's insistent need to dote over her, make sure her cup was full enough, make sure she wasn't cold, make sure the music wasn't too loud. I hadn't ever seen a boy fuss over a girl so much, and it shocked me when, on the way home, my dad told me the two of them weren't dating.

"_What?" I had practically shouted, my eyes round as our feet took us in the direction of our home, through a trail in the woods. It was dark, only lit up by the occasional porchlight, but there was a peaceful aura to the surrounding trees, like there was something keeping anything scary at bay. _

"_I know, I couldn't believe it when Billy told me, either. He looks at her like she hung the moon," my dad said, hands in his pockets and a small smile on his face as he looked at my expression. _

"_And the sun and the stars and every planet in the damn galaxy," I added, shaking my head. "She feeds into it, too. Doesn't she like him back? She was letting him hold her hand, leaning into him, giving him every reason to think that she wanted him there…"  
His face twisted, head tilting side to side as if trying to figure out how he wanted to say what was in his head. "Jake pulled Bella out of a really bad place, I hear. Charlie was talking about them while commercials were playing. Guess she had her heart broken by-" his words stumbled, blanked, before he continued. "By Edward Cullen. Guess he left her out in the middle of the woods or something, completely fell off the face of the earth. Charlie said she went into a zombie state; wouldn't talk, wouldn't eat, never went out and saw anyone. Just sat in her room the whole winter. Said that she went and saw Jake once and that was it, they've been attached at the hip since."_

The information had only made me dislike the girl more, really. To go into such dramatics over a guy, and then to use another one just to pick yourself back up again? Where was this girl's sense of loyalty to women, why couldn't she seem to do things without a male in her life? Maybe I had just been raised different, to be a weapon instead of a victim, but wasn't this mindset at the back of every girls' mind?

Like now, for instance. I was walking with Katie Hughes, one of the girls who had insisted to be my guide dog for the day and show me around the school. She was going on about a guy named Paul, unleashing her frustrations on someone who had no idea what she was talking about whatsoever.

"-And then he doesn't even _call_, can you believe that? Not once. Next thing you know, a few of us were at a Forks party and he's all over this blonde bitch. I mean, seriously, a _blonde_?" Her voice had gotten higher in her rant, attracting a few eyes and even more eyerolls. Apparently, this wasn't anything new. She tossed her black hair over her shoulder, leveling me with her dark gaze as we stood outside of the history classroom. "I'm just saying, you'll probably be next on his hit-list, so don't even bother. Paul the Manwhore always wants a new slice of meat to chew into, so."

"Okay, listen," I sighed, closing my eyes for a second to gather my thoughts and try to decide if making enemies on the first day was obnoxious, cliche, or expected. "First of all, you said he told you there wouldn't ever be anything romantic, right? You can't be angry with him for following through with that. And also, a slice of meat? Come on, dude. We get called shit like that from men all the time, the last thing we need is for one of our own to be comparing us to what's in the fridge." Her jaw had fallen open slightly, eyes wide like she was taken aback. Did people typically stand around and just listen to her say this stuff? "I wont go on my full femenist rant, because I don't think you'll retain any of it quite frankly. But, hear this part, okay? Move _on_. There are tons of guys here who are very interested in you, that's something you are already aware of. You're not genuinely interested in this Paul guy, you just want what you can't have. Also, it isn't manwhore. It's just whore. But you shouldn't say either."

I sighed, like getting this out was something I had been waiting years for instead of emre minutes. Katie pursed her lips, like she was considering what I was saying. "You know, you're right. There are so many guys that would kill to be with me, and I'm so used to that, that it drives me insane when one doesn't. That makes so much sense, actually. Besides, Paul is so damaged that it would probably be a chore to have him fawn over me. Thank, Bri!"

She trotted off, hair swishing back and forth before there was even a chance to tell her that I hated being called Bri. I took it as a win regardless; maybe tomorrow there wouldn't be anything for her to complain about. Maybe there wouldn't be anything at all. With a sigh, I turned and walked into the classroom, evaluating the seating arrangements and trying to figure out what would be best for where I wanted to sit. Most of the people in the class were here already, leaving limited spots, but there was a quiet girl in the back of the room that had her things laid out and her pen in hand, staring at the front of the room as if she was anticipating the teacher's every word.

I sat next to her.

"Hey," I said, setting my backpack down on the ground. "Does anyone sit here?"

The girl was quick to shake her head, smile widening a little bit. "No, you're fine. Brynn Price, right?" Upon seeing me nod, she stuck out her hand. "Kim Connweller. How's your first day treating you?"

Kim was a very plain jane girl, pretty in the Girl-Next-Door type of way. She had the standard Quileute characteristics; tan skin, dark eyes, and dark hair, but her nose was small with a slight upturned point, her bottom lip smaller than the top one. She wore tan jeans with black flats, a buttoned up flannel on top. We fell into easy conversation, too; she told me about the classes she was taking and teachers to avoid, and asked me a bit about where I came from. I didn't know how to tell her that I came from everywhere, so I just prattled off about the last place I had been in, and she seemed eager enough to hear about it.

"Indiana? Wow! That's so far away. What's in Indiana?" She asked, eyes shimmering with such interest that it almost made me want to talk about the state.

I thought for a second. "Corn, mostly," I decided, shrugging my shoulders. "Meth. Republicans."

"Oh," she said slowly, a frown pulling at her lips for a second before she smiled again. "Well, it must've been cool to roadtrip."

At that second, the door opened to Jared theatrically tiptoeing his way into the room, pressing a finger to his lips when people looked back at him and causing a few giggles throughout the room.

It seemed I wasn't the only one that was aware of how attractive Jared and his friends were.

"Very funny, Mr. Cameron," Mr. Phoenix grumbled from his spot behind his desk, almost too small to be seen behind the TV screen on a rolling stand in front of him. He had already told everyone it would be a simple class day; watch a movie and fill in the missing blanks on a worksheet that had been passed out. Perks of coming back from winter break, I guess.

Jared decided it was best not to respond, and took his seat in front of Kim without a glance behind him. However, I was quick to notice the blush in Kim's cheeks and the way she had straightened herself up and pushed her hair behind her ears. I leaned towards her, elbows sliding across the table we were sat at. "Is he late everyday?" I whispered, really just wanting to get the girl talking.

It worked; Kim seemed almost too eager to respond. "On the days he shows up, yeah," she nodded, leaning closer to me in order to more effectively whisper. "He used to be a total class clown, but he got really sick and missed two weeks of school. When he came back, he was all bulked up and didn't really talk much, not even to his best friend. Then it happened to Paul, and then Embry… They say it was a serious illness." The worry in her voice was apparent, and I could tell the crush went deeper than just an appreciation for a good physique. "Paul still misses a lot, but Jared is usually here."

"If they aren't sick anymore, why would they still miss?"

"They do really important work around the reservation; renovations, security, all sorts of stuff. Sometimes they're out really late, so the elders just dismiss them from school," Kim said, shrugging. I found myself feeling guilty about what I said to Embry about ditching the project, promising that I would text him later to let him know that I understood if his schedule got messy. If it was important enough to be dismissed from classes, surely it would be a good enough reason to not do much for a project. Kim continued. "It's probably how they got so buff."

I followed Kim's gaze to Jared, seeing that his arms seemed to be nearly the size of my head, and I remembered the way he looked without a shirt on. "Yeah, must be." Before my mind could really think about how I wanted to continue the conversation, my lips were already moving. "So, what do you know about Paul? Katie said some stuff about him, but I trust your judgement a bit more."

This had Kim's eyes leaving the back of Jared's head, which suddenly turned ever so slightly. "I know that he's Jared's best friend and that he came from a really shitty upbringing," she started, looking at me almost curiously. "He's angry a lot of the time and doesn't try very hard in school, but he seems to know his way around cars and construction, so he may not ever need any of this stuff anyway."

"He's also hilarious," a new voice chimed in, and Kim and I both lifted our heads to see Jared staring back at them with an easy, almost knowing smile. "A sarcastic prick, too."

Kim had gone full statue, staring unblinkingly at the boy, so I took it upon myself to respond the only way I knew how to someone who had eavesdropped. "Sounds like you two are pretty close," I observed, offering a too-sweet smile. "How long have you been together?"

Jared slapped a hand over his mouth to muffle his laughter whilst Kim looked at me, nearly mortified. "Brynn, don't-"

"Yeah, he's going to love you," Jared chuckled softly, shaking his head with amusement.

I rolled my eyes dramatically, making sure he saw the full turn. "Where is this mysterious Paul, anyway? I've heard plenty about him, and yet." I held my hands out, as if to display that his appearance was nowhere to be seen.

"You've seen him," Jared reassured, leaning back in his chair so the back of it leaned against the front of our table, right in front of Kim. I watched her eyes widen, her cheeks darkening to an impossible red on such tanned skin. "He was sitting at the lunch table with Em and I. He definitely noticed you."

Oh, I had most certainly noticed. The third boy at the lunch table had such a profound presence that I couldn't help but notice him, with his furrowed eyebrows and his big, white smile as he joked with his friends. If Jared and Embry were attractive, Paul was an adonis, the type of beauty you couldn't help but stare at when you could get away with it. He caught me once or twice, my head spinning around the second I noticed him even glancing towards me, but I always knew he caught me when I looked back and he had an arrogant, stunning smirk on his lips.

"That's Paul?" I asked, and the look on my face must have reflected my thoughts, because Jared snorted his confirmation. "Huh. Guess I see what all the fuss is about then." Without warning, my mind put together the image of him and Katie side by side, hand in hand, and the thought of it made me want to laugh. Yeah, he didn't look the type for any of that.

The lights flicked on then, time having ticked by between my conversation with Kim and then with Jared. The girl was still stunned, only seeming to breathe once Jared's chair was back on the ground and his body wasn't anywhere near hers. Poor thing, she has it bad. Everyone began gathering their books as the teacher talked about returning to the movie tomorrow and that there wouldn't be a homework assignment for the night.

"I'll be sure to let him know that," Jared said, a shit-eating grin on his face as he made his way towards the door. "I'll try to describe your googly eyes to the best of my ability."

"Fuck you," I spit back, but there was no heat behind my words. I wasn't afraid for someone to know I found them attractive, especially when he already assumed as much anyway.

Kim and I followed Jared out of the door, waving a hand in goodbye before she and I went in the opposite direction of him.

"I cannot believe that just happened," Kim whispered, barely audible above the sounds going on around everyone else. "He talked to us, Brynn. Well, more so you than me, but I said the last thing before he responded. Oh, my God."

I couldn't help but laugh, but she seemed too far gone to care at this point. "How long have you been into him, anyway?"

She was scarlet again. "Awhile."

We went our separate ways then, and school turned into the same blur it had been in the morning. Simple conversation, having to introduce myself to classes occasionally, before I was finally on my walk back to the house. It was pretty successful compared to most first days, making friends and zero homework always called for a celebration. As I got to the house, slipping the key into the doorknob, there was a moment where it felt like everything had gone silent, stillness all around me. I had the sensation of eyes on my back, feeling the gooseflesh begin up my spine and to the back of my neck, all my instincts suddenly kicking into overdrive. When I turned around, a woman with hair like fire stood behind me, eyes the color of blood as she stared me down. As I took in her appearance, I noticed that part of her arm was missing from the forearm down, but where there should be blood, or even scar tissue, was what looked to be broken rock, completely shattered. A howl filled the air as she stared at me, loud and clear.

When I blinked she was gone.


	4. Tremor

**TREMOR**

_Paul_

I walked into the Black house with my guard up and my fists clenched, my jaw no different as I locked eyes with Billy himself upon my entry. We had been called to an emergency meeting there, Harry and Old Quil even coming out to attend. It was the typical, professional setting, but it felt better to be here in the middle of the reservation rather than someplace that would leave anyone open to getting hurt.

"-my fucking daughter, Billy! What the hell was I meant to tell her when she's standing there, freaked out over a red-eyed woman with a shattered arm? That she was hallucinating?" I didn't recognize the man there, but I knew his name from times Sam had spoken with him. He was tied into the legends somehow, knew them from a family member of his having been part of the pack that existed before us. James Price was red faced, pacing a hole in the floorboards of the Black kitchen, looking about as pissed as the rest of us felt. "I can't have her carrying around flaming arrows everywhere, Billy. You told me you had information, but you didn't say there were others in the area. She was yards away from her, that's nothing to one of their kind. Brynn could have blinked and that would have been it."

Jared and I both stiffened at the words and let our heads drop, as if the knowledge that one of our own, no matter how new she may be, nearly being killed was our fault. In a way, it was. If we were smarter, faster, and more practical, there wouldn't have been a moment in which Brynn's life was in danger. The redhead would have been taken out and life would continue on without the constant presence of a threat in the area. The memory of my teeth sinking into the arm of the corpse replayed in my mind, the satisfying sound it made when I pulled it away and the shriek that had come from her mouth, so high pitched that my ears had flattened against my head.

Jared met my eye across the room and I knew he was thinking the same thing I was: we had just been talking about this girl, about how I would go about talking to her, and now we were here, talking about how her blood had almost been spilled. I couldn't keep the tremor from raking through my body, only this time I couldn't tell if it was shame or anger that caused the tremble.

Billy rolled his wheelchair to the table in the center of the room, his hands clasped together on top of the wood. "James, don't talk to me like I brought the two of you here to be put in harm's way on purpose," he warned, but his voice was only stern, no hint of anger inside of it. I could tell by looking at him that he understood what his friend was going through; this wasn't James being angry at him, this was James fearing for his only child's life. "Boys, is there anything new you have to update with? Any motives? This cannot just be a fluke; she wants something in the area, and she clearly won't stop until she gets it."

Sam eyed me, nodding his head to grant me permission to speak before him. Usually this isn't how things worked, but with so many people wound so tight, no one wanted to step on any toes. "I've followed her scent in the same loop multiple times. She always makes sure to pass here, the Forks High School, and the Cullen house. Whatever she's looking for, she hasn't found it yet."

Sam stepped in now, the deep timbre of his alpha tone causing us all to feel at once calmed and alert. "Since the Cullens have moved on, we think she might be awaiting their return. There could be some conflict between them, or her needing their help. That's what we thought, anyway, before we realized that she was hunting something. Everytime we catch her, she's scenting certain areas, certain items, like she's trying to find something that she can't get a hold of yet." Growls ripped through the air, unable to keep ourselves quiet with so much frustration running through us.

Why the fuck wouldn't she just leave?

"How's Brynn holding up, James?" Harry asked from his seat beside Billy, a serious look on his face.

James had finally settled, taking an unwarranted seat with the elders and sliding an empty mug back and forth between his hands. "Well, she's taken to training more than usual, that's for damn sure," he grumbled, running a hand over his face. "Scared for her life, basically. Doesn't know what that thing was, doesn't know why I won't look her in the eye about it, but she's adamant on making sure her aim isn't off."

"Have a bow outside from now on," Billy put in, eyes distant.

"She's already hid one on the porch. I put a torch out there, too, made sure to tell her not to bother with a shot unless it was on fire."

Jared and I met eyes again, the same expression on both of our faces: Brynn could shoot flaming arrows? Despite the serious tone of the conversation and the atmosphere feeling heavy, Jared still took it upon himself to wiggle his eyebrows at me.

It was then that a quick, high pitched howl rang through the room. I pushed myself off the wall, nodding my farewell before heading outside the door. Embry passed me on the steps, our shoulders brushing intentionally, our wolf-like communication for checking in on each other and making sure the other was alright. I tied my shorts into the string around my ankle before I was phasing, hitting the ground on all fours in a vicious sprint. A loud growl left my throat, the anger and frustration rushing through the pack hitting me full force. We couldn't hear one another unless we were all phased in, but the emotions the others felt at this time were clear enough that my wolf bared its teeth, already prepared for another instance with the growingly familiar leech.

On instinct, I tracked the trail to the new Price resident, the scent still thick in the air despite the drizzle that had been going nonstop since school had let out. It ended right at the edge of the woods, only twenty yards from the porch that Brynn had been standing on. She had managed to get herself into the house before we had ran by, the smell of her fear still hanging heavy in the air, and I could almost see her there now, eyes wide, body frozen in shock.

_Fuck! _I snarled again, my paws pacing the same area up and down in front of the treeline. The sickly sweet, bleach scent stung my nose and throat as I inhaled it over and over, trying to get it lodged in every part of me so that next time I came across it, no matter how fresh or stale, there would be no way of losing it.

The sound of something whizzing through the air paused me in my tracks, silver ears perking up as my head turned in the direction of the sound. There was a glow coming from the backyard of the home, the smell of fire letting me know exactly what was going on. Silently, I stepped back into the woods and made my way carefully through the trees to get a better view, only stopping when I could see perfectly what was going on.

Brynn Price was dressed in all black, a beanie pulled over her ears and even black laced up boots on her feet as she stood in a wide-leg stance. Her arms were stiff, bow in her hand, face illuminated by the glow coming from the tip of her arrow. She released and the bow hit a tree in the center of a target someone had spray painted on to the trunk, my eyes never having the chance to leave it before another one landed in a tree right next to it, a solid bullseye just like the last. The area must have been doused in water before she had painted it; the fire was controlled on only the arrow, no risk of the tree burning up with it. For some reason, this made my wolf immensely proud, a sound starting up in my throat that could only be described as pleased. I didn't mind it; the girl was trying to be brave, to learn to keep herself safe to the best of her ability. Maybe she didn't understand that a leech could have her in its grip before she even knocked an arrow, but it was the thought that counted regardless.

Stupidly, I took a blind step in her direction and a stick cracked under the weight of my paw. She was quick to turn towards the sound, arrow ready before I had even seen her light it up. Really, there was no threat, but my body froze regardless, my wolf seemingly incapable of moving when her eyes were on us. I couldn't see them, hidden behind the light of the fire, but I could feel her gaze like a heavy weight. She let the arrow fly but not before changing her aim just a hair; the tree near my head lit up as the arrow hit deep into it, illuminating the area all around me. I watched her knock another arrow and pause, her eyes stuck on the giant wolf no longer hidden in the woods near her.

Brynn dropped her arms and took three steps back, closer to the kitchen door. "Get out of here," she called, dropping the arrow in a bucket at her feet. It must've been filled with water, because instantly the sizzle of the fire being put out hit my ears. She seemed frustrated, dropping her bow down harsher than necessary. Maybe she just assumed loud sounds would scare a wolf away, but I remained in the same spot. "First a fucking-" she struggled for the word. "A fucking _thing_ in my driveway, now there's mammoth-sized wolves? Where the fuck am I?"

Her body turned to the door like she was about to go inside, but she paused and took another glance in my direction. Her eyes moved from my paws, down my back, before tracing their way back up to my face. I felt her stare like hesitant fingertips, over my muzzle, up my face, before I was finally able to take control of my body back from the wolf that I shared it with. I leapt into the arrow, making sure it sizzled out against the wet ground before I was flying through the woods, heart hammering against my ribcage as I went.

_What the fuck was that, Sparky? _I growled at my wolf, but he had fallen into hunting mode, which meant that I could only do the same.

We ran until the sun came up, tracing the reservation over and over again and even moving into the safety of the treelines in Forks, trying to find something that I knew wouldn't be there. When Jared switched in, mind groggy and filled with thoughts of a girl he had been dreaming about, I didn't give much more than a quick goodbye once I had made it back to my house. I pushed inside the door, walking across creaky floorboards to make it to one of the two bedrooms my little shack had inside of it. I was asleep before my body had even fully hit the mattress.

That night, I dreamed of fire and Brynn Price.


	5. Please

**PLEASE**

_Brynn_

School the next day felt like a sick joke. I didn't have to look in the mirror to know that I looked like I had been hit by not only a car, but also a bus and a train. After a late night of training and thinking, sleep had not come easily. Over and over again, without a single shred of mercy, I would wake from nightmares of red eyes and large wolves. Occasionally, the woman would have killed them. Sometimes, they just stood there with one another, staring at me, as if waiting to see which target I decided to shoot at first.

Jacob looked just as bad as I did when I got to study hall, head laying down on the desk as he picked lazily at carvings in the table we sat at.

"Don't tell me you had nightmares all night, too," I greeted, plopping down into my chair and resting my head on my arms, face looking right at his. This close, the bags under his eyes were far more noticeable.

He laughed, but it was empty of humor. "Just couldn't sleep. Glad we both look like shit, though." I pulled a face and lazily moved my hand to tug a long strand of his hair in retaliation. "Got a date with Bella and her school friends tomorrow, so I'm trying to hang on until then." The tone when he said her name made my heart clench in my chest; the poor kid had no idea how badly he was being toyed with. "Seriously, happened at your place? Your dad was just leaving when I woke up this morning, looking even worse than we do."

"Some trespasser, I guess?" Saying it out loud made me feel ridiculous, like a scared little kid that saw someone walk by their house at night. "I told my dad about it and he got really freaked out. And then later, I saw the biggest wolf I've ever seen in my life. I mean, I haven't ever seen a wolf before, but I imagine they don't usually get that big."

"It was probably the bears that people have been seeing around. Have you heard about the attacks that have been happening nearby? Guess they're coming out of hibernation a bit early or something."

We didn't talk much after that, him going back to his music whilst I just sat and stared at the lines in the brick. When the class ended, he offered his fist in a bump goodbye and then I was moving through the motions all over again. Katie was chattier than before, her attention having turned towards some Mike guy from Forks that she had ran into at a diner multiple times the past few weeks. I could barely keep up, the image of red eyes seeming to keep me from replying when I knew I should've. Keeping up the charade clearly wasn't working, so when lunch came around, I made a beeline for Kim and left Katie and her friends wondering what my problem was.

"Do people just not know how to take hints?" I asked loudly, setting my things down and sitting in the chair closest to Kim. My presence startled her, but her smile was big as she watched me settle my things on the table.

"You don't get to complain when you put yourself in the company of talkative people, Brynn," she chastised, but her tone was all play as she sat up a bit straighter. There were people at the other end of the table who had looked up at my arrival, but they didn't seem to mind the intrusion.

"Guess you're stuck with me then, hm Kimberly?" I said, taking a bite out of my apple like it had wronged me. Her responding laugh didn't seem offended, and I was once again wondering why the quiet ones got such bad reputations against them. Fuck high school stereotypes.

Just like before, the conversation between Kim and I came easily, going from my first day, to the assignments she had in other classes, and leading back to what we had gotten up to last night. She had babysat her little brothers, and even as she rolled her eyes while describing a few of their antics, it was clear that she held so much love for the two boys. It seemed crazy to me, the idea of being able to willingly and happily take on the role of caregiver all the time despite having your own things to juggle. I was finding myself having more and more respect for Kim each time we spoke.

"What did you do last night? Please give me something interesting, I'm trying to live vicariously through your exciting life instead of TV characters now," she said once things had gotten quiet for a moment, rolling a grape between her fingers.

"Uh," I started, feeling like giving the same explanation I gave Jacob would just leave Kim feeling worried. "I did a bit of job hunting, actually. Trying to find local places to work at so I can get a car soon, make it a bit easier when I want to go out but dad is already gone."

Her lips pursed, nodding as she thought about it. "I think the library in Forks is hiring," she offered, shrugging slightly. "There's a few food places around here that need new waitresses and dishwashers."

"Hey, thanks," I said, moving to stand as I gathered my stuff. "I'm going to call my dad before history; he didn't get home until early this morning, so I just want to make sure things are all good."

I had just tossed my trash when my name was being called, and I looked over to see Jared waving me over to his table. Instinctively, I looked over my shoulder back at Kim, who's eyes were wide as saucers as she looked from his lunch table to where I stood. She mouthed 'go' at me, and so I took that as her trust that there wasn't any funny business going on. Besides, wasn't I supposed to be making friends?

"Hey, what's up guys?" I greeted them, trying not to let my eyes slip too far over to the empty chair that Paul had been sitting in the day before. Instead, I set my lunch bag down on the table and looked between him and Embry, who hadn't been in our biology class earlier that morning. They looked tired, and I was reminded instantly about what Kim had told me the previous day. "Hey, Em," I said, turning towards him a bit more. "I heard that a lot of the time you're up late doing stuff around the reservation, so I just wanted to let you know that as long as you write your own name on the project, no hard feelings if you can't help out more than that."

Jared laughed at Embry's flustered expression. "Thanks, Brynn," he said anyway, and I could see that it actually did take a weight off of his shoulders.

"What was going on with you guys last night?" Jared asked, and even if it was just the fourth time I was hearing it, it felt like the hundredth. "I saw your dad leaving the Black's place early this morning, looked like he hadn't slept. Is everything alright?"

I slapped on a sweet, thankful smile. "Yeah, everything's good," I promised, though I couldn't quite tell how big or little of a lie it was. Did word really travel that fast around here? "He just went to Billy's place to help out with some of the tribal stuff. I guess they got caught up in it more than they expected to. No big deal."

There was a look exchanged between the two boys that I couldn't quite describe, like a quick silent conversation, but I didn't get the chance to call them out on it before a third voice was cutting in.

"No big deal? Been in town for less than a week and you're already causing this much trouble, Price? Makes me second guess the house renovation," it said, pulling my eyes over to none other than Paul Lahote.

Our eyes met and, as cliche as it probably sounds, I felt like my heart skipped a beat. They were a deep, dark brown, little flecks of amber and gold being thrown in near the irises, and I wasn't even close enough to pinpoint any other colors. He had been smirking before, but now his face had gone almost slack, eyes wide as he looked into mine, emotion after emotion passing so quickly through his eyes that I couldn't quite catch what any of them were. I had thought Paul to be some sort of supernatural beauty before, but now I could tell that even that wasn't close enough to describe it. Strong jaw, a straight nose that was perfectly symmetrical, full lips that drew my eyes in the second his tongue slipped across them.

I wasn't sure how much time had gone by since he walked in- seconds, minutes, days?- but I could feel the heat creep into my cheeks as Embry's chair scratched the linoleum, bringing me back to earth. That's what it had felt like in all reality, like for a second it was him and I, floating somewhere else, far away from the normal life that was going on around us. My own thoughts had my nose scrunching up- I didn't get crushes, didn't feel like I had the time for more than a touch or two, so these ideas in my head were more than absurd.

"Uh," I said, stupidly, before collecting my thoughts. It took looking away from him for a second to do so, but my eyes found their way back to those warm eyes. "You've got a rude awakening if you think this little happenstance is trouble, honey. I'm only getting started."

Jared was the one to respond, bringing my attention away from the God-like boy beside me. "You know, for some reason, I don't think you're bluffing," he said, and between his smirk and the little chuckle Embry did around a bite of spaghetti, I knew they were thinking about something that I wasn't aware of.

"I gotta go," Paul mumbled, the words barely making out between his clenched teeth before he was exiting out the way he came. His hands had been shaking.

My brow furrowed, a mixture of confusion and worry. "Is he always like this?" I asked, looking at the empty doorway.

"Think you make him shy," Jared shrugged, and Embry shook his head. The word had me glancing back at Kim, who was pretending not to be watching despite her nose and eyes peeking over the edge of her history book.

"Probably forgot his stuff or something. He was on shift last night, so he didn't get much sleep." The two of them continued eating, like this was the most casual thing in the world, like high school boys who had only just shown up to school turning around and leaving because their lack of sleep was an average thing.

What were these La Push boys on?

"Hey, Jared," I piped up, looking back in his direction. "What do you think of Kim Conweller?"

His expression said it enough: he didn't think of Kim Conweller at all.

"I don't know her, why?" He asked, leaning forward in his seat to rest his elbows on the table. "Playing Cupid, Price? You weren't kidding, your arrival really does bring trouble."

My mouth fell open in a fake shocked expression, a hand coming up to rest against my heart. "I'm hurt, Jared Cameron, I'm really hurt." He and Embry both rolled their eyes at me, but the amusement was clear enough on their faces. "No, but you should talk to her sometime. I hear she's really into you."

I left them with that after a brief explanation that I needed to call my dad, heading out into the hallway. It was pointless, but I couldn't keep myself from craning my neck to look in every exit direction that was around, as if maybe Paul and his long legs to steps slower than a tortoise. He wasn't around, only a few peers milling about to pass the time between lunch and their next class, so I gave it up and found a bench to make my call on.

The phone rang four times before I gave up, shooting him a quick text that read 'heard sleeping all day was for the depressed and the lazy. which one are you?' before putting my phone away. Without my consent, my brain continued to find its way back to Paul Lahote's face in the cafeteria. His eyes were what had struck me the hardest; never in my life had someone looked at me with so much...what? Awe? Adoration? That couldn't have been it, not just from the first meeting, though I couldn't imagine my eyes had looked much different. I pulled up the camera on my phone, just to make sure I didn't have anything on my face, but it was all clear aside from the circles beneath my eyes. I had been fine with my appearance when I saw myself in the mirror this morning, but after knowing what Paul had been looking at, I was suddenly insecure. Was I less than he expected from the new girl?

Why did it even _matter_?

History came and I was quickly forced into giving Kim the rundown of my conversation with the boys, skipping over the part where I had mentioned her and Jared looked completely lost. It wasn't like it mattered much; she was clinging on to everything else I was giving her, eyes round and lit up whenever I quoted something Jared said. He hadn't shown up to class, so I was free to say whatever I wanted without the fear of his eavesdropping getting in the way. The Paul part had her brows pulling together though, head tilting to the side in confusion.

"That's so weird," she said finally, both of us taking a break to write a couple answers on our papers. "He's usually so suave when it comes to girls, you know? Maybe it was just a bad night for him or something. I told you about his temper, right? He's never hurt anyone, don't get me wrong, he just has trouble with it."

I didn't respond, thinking over the way his hands had been shaking and how tight his jaw looked whenever he exited the room. It didn't make any sense though; when he walked in, he was all smirks and swinging arms, as casual as a person could be. I replayed the things I said, over and over, trying to pinpoint in any moment how I could've said the wrong thing or pissed him off so bad. I was drawing blanks. If Paul had been the paper in front of me, waiting for boxes to be filled in and answers to be circled, I was completely clueless on where to start.

I found myself dreading the walk back home when the last tone rang out through the hallways, my teeth worrying at my bottom lip as I took the exit closest to the trail that went by my house. Without thinking, I was pulling my keychain out of my bag, keeping the small blade in my hand as I walked. It wasn't much, but the knife mixed with my combat skills would be enough to give an attacker a run for their money.

And there was a possibility I would need it to. The second I got within the safety of the trees, I felt the unnerving feeling that there were eyes on me, but I couldn't tell which direction they were coming from. When I looked in one direction, the feeling was suddenly coming from another. I immediately went through the strategy my father had taught me about multiple attackers, to never let myself get boxed in and when it felt like there was no use, go bat shit crazy. I thought about slamming noses into skulls, about elbows to the throats, and-

My heart hammered in my throat as a large, silver wolf creeped out of the protection of the foliage and on to the trail, dark eyes on me. I dropped my gaze immediately, knowing from a childhood of animal books that making eye contact with a wolf was the same as asking it for a fight to the death. I lowered myself to the ground, not wanting for a second to make the animal feel like I was overpowering it, letting the sharp rocks and twigs jab into my palms.

_Great_, I thought wryly. _Now it'll smell my blood and look at me like a chicken dinner. _

A high pitched whine left the beast, and my shoulders pulled up over my neck, wondering how long it would take for it to get past the small barricade and tear my open. I felt heat at the back of my neck, could hear the loud inhale it took. Then it was huffing against my skin, coating me in its breathe, before its head fell into my line of sight on the dirt trail, ears flattened to the back of my head. Rationally, I knew these were easy signs of submission, especially the way it leaned on to its side, exposing its belly to me. But its head was nearly the size of my entire upper body, it's paws twice the size of my hands, and that fear kept me frozen in my place, the blade in one of my hands long since forgotten.

Something warm and wet slid against the back of my hand, another whine leaving the animal. Without thinking, I eased up my grip on the filthy ground, and the animal took no time at letting its tongue run over my palm, cleaning dirt and blood as it went, another whine leaving its throat. Call me crazy, but the action soothed me, made me feel like I could relax in the presence of this great wolf, like maybe I wasn't in an immediate threat of danger.

The red eyes of the woman I had seen the day before suddenly went through my mind and I shuddered, pulling another distressed sound from the animal as it began to nudge at my other hand. I would take the fear of this animal over the heart-stopping, bone-chilling unease I had felt from the woman any day. I sat back slowly, though the wolf seemed unconcerned with my motions so long as it lapped at the scrapes on the heel of my hand, keychain knife long forgotten on the forest floor, insistent and determined. And so long as it was distracted, I felt brave enough to bring my already cleaned hand up, moving shakily in the direction of the wolf's face. It's eyes snapped towards my hand and back up to me, as if it understood exactly what I was intending to do, and it moved its head so that my hand pressed flat against the side of its face. His- was it a he now?- eyes stayed on my face for a second, something I only noticed from my peripheral vision as I still refused to meet its eyes and turn this entire thing into a blood bath, before he went back to his job of cleansing my palm.

Carefully, my fingers brushed over the thick fur at the side of the wolf's face, and the sound that emitted from the animal's throat had me freezing in place. His eyes had slipped closed, my hand long forgotten, as a deep rumble came from within its chest. Dogs didn't purr so I could only assume that wolves didn't either, but there was no other way to describe the pleased sound the animal made as my fingers brushed through its fur yet again. It was then that I pinpointed where I had seen him before; this was the same wolf that I had seen last night.

"You like this?" I whispered, and the sound of my voice had caused his ears to flick just slightly before another sigh was pushing through his body. My fingers continued the gentle touches, heart finally settling in my chest as much as possible in the situation. "You're not so bad, huh? I'd take you over the freaky ginger anyday."

This pulled a reaction from him. The wolf's muzzle pulled over his teeth as a low, warning growl bubbled out of it, causing my hand to freeze in their tracks. My heart started right up again, and the wolf quickly heard the change. His ears flattened again, the growl turning into another whine as it pressed his head into my lap, nosing at my hand that was still frozen in the air. I knew it wasn't possible, that wolves didn't understand human reactions any better than we understood theirs, but it felt as if the creature was apologizing, trying to smother the fear it had caused by comforting me. For whatever reason, this calmed me down, my fingers finding their way behind the animals ears to get slow, gentle scratches from my fingernails. He seemed to welcome the comfort just as much as I did, eyes slowly closing and that same pleasant rumble vibrating his chest.

My phone buzzing loudly tore us from the little peaceful moment, my eyes going wide as I realized that it was probably my dad going out of his mind with worry. I mean, the first day I get home nearly hyperventilating with my story of something being outside, the next I don't show up on time at all. I take my fingers away from the wolf, his head lifting just to watch me. I tried to remember to make my movements slow, careful, to keep from startling him.

"Dad," I said upon answering, my free hand keeping up the steady strokes that seemed to keep the silver animal calm enough.

"Rin? Where the hell are you? Are you safe?" His voice was loud, scared, and I watched as the wolf laid its ears back just a bit.

I sighed. "Dad, I'm fine. I was on my way home and I just got…" I trailed off, looking at the animal as if he could help me figure out a good enough explanation. Just the opposite, the wolf leaned its giant head to the side and looked almost amused. Could wolves be amused? "Basically, there's a giant wolf in my lap right now and I'm worried that if I try to leave, it'll see a game of chase and kill me."

Call me crazy, but did this thing just roll its eyes at me?

"Oh, good," my dad's voice said on the other line, keeping me from flicking the wolf in the nose whilst also confusing me. Before I had a chance to comment on it, he was talking again. "He won't do anything to you, Rin. The wolves around here are...different."

"You can say that again," I muttered, watching as the wolf lifted its head to look around and revealed just how much taller it was than me, even laying down.

"I just meant that they're domesticated in a way. Just come home, alright? Thought I was going to lose my mind, you not answering your damn texts." There was shuffling on the other side of the phone, and I smiled at the thought of my dad putting together weapons to come and avenge my death, only to find me cuddled up with an oversized puppy.

As if sensing where this was going, the wolf stood, once again taking away my breath at the size of him. Seriously, what were the elderly ladies on the reservation feeding these guys? "Um, okay, dad. I'll be home in a few, alright? Love you, bye." I slipped the phone into the side pocket of my leggings before standing slowly, the wolf watching me intensely as I did so.

We walked in silence, the fur of his front leg occasionally brushing me as I dodged roots and overgrown branches. It should've been weird, I'm well aware of how abnormal this all was, but there wasn't a hint of anything bad in the air. As I thought about it more, I couldn't help but wonder why I had been so afraid to begin with; from the moment he stepped out of the trees, the wolf had nothing but a calming presence to him. I grew up being taught and trained on danger and what to do in the face of it, and maybe that's why my mind had blanked so hard when it came to this creature.

When we made it to the edge of the trees, right before my yard, he stopped and looked at me, and for some reason I knew that this was where he would be stopping. Without meaning to, I reached out to let my fingers run over the fur at his chest, earning another rumble from him. He dropped his nose to my forehead, inhaling deep, before he was turning towards the woods, off the trail, and bounding away from me. I stood there for another minute, just watching the way that he left.

What the hell was going on in La Push?

**AN: Hey, guys! So, I have a bone to pick with you… I've been trying to post more frequently and make the most of the summer before classes start up again, but I can't tell whether or not you guys like that, like the story, or anything, really. I need to know your guys' thoughts! Who's your favorite character so far? Do you have any theories on why Brynn grew up the way that she did? Do you think Paul is going to fight the imprint, or give in easily? More importantly- is Brynn going to accept it? Constructive criticism is another thing I'm dying to hear from you; I know that the story is already better than it was when I initially posted it, but I can't get better without the input from the people that are absorbing my words, you know? So please, please, please review! **

**T**


	6. Know

**KNOW**

_Paul_

"No big deal? Been in town for less than a week and you're already causing this much trouble, Price? Makes me second guess the house renovation," I said, walking into the cafeteria with a smirk on my face. I had been able to listen in on their conversation before I had even made it fully through the school doors, feeling slightly more awake when I heard who Jared and Embry had been speaking to.

Brynn Price had been haunting my thoughts ever since yesterday. Between hearing that she and another girl had been talking about me, finding out that she had come face to face with the growing infamous redheaded leech, and seeing her target practice last night, I couldn't seem to shake her from my mind. She looked like hell; it was obvious that yesterday had left her with awful sleep, the dark circles beneath her eyes greying up the warm skin that had been there the day before. It was the first time I had gotten a good look at her face, so I took my time with it, glancing over the small scar above her lip, the soft curve in the middle of her nose, all the way up to deep brown eyes.

That was when it happened.

You would think that seeing it through someone else's eyes would prepare you for the impact that meeting your soulmate could cause, but Sam's play-by-play on his first time seeing Emily hadn't come close to what this felt like. My knees felt unsteady, like they suddenly couldn't carry my weight as I looked into the greens and browns of this girl's eyes, feeling as though the world had been knocked off its axis and was spinning in the direction of her alone. It was like gravity had somehow evaporated, like nothing but a single thread of string was tying me to the ground I stood on, the other end tying itself in a neat little bow around her finger. Every single thing I thought I had known about love, about intimacy, had taken a sudden plunge towards the nearest waste bin as new thoughts planted themselves in my head. Suddenly I could see my arms wrapped around this girl on cold nights, my fingers holding her face, my lips kissing at the grey skin beneath her eyes. A friend, if she wanted. Deeper down the road, a place I had never ventured to before even in my own mind, I could see the two of us cooing over pink and blue blankets, a tux and a white dress, the feeling of her lips on mine. More, if she wanted. Her tired eyes looked back to my brothers, illuminating the skin beneath her eyes even more. She hadn't slept last night, was she okay? Did she feel well enough to be here right now?

That's when the memory hit me, feeling more like a freight train than remembering something. She had been mere yards away from the bloodsucker, less than a breath from getting every pint of blood drained from her body. The tremors started in my hands, no amount of clenching them seeming to make it stop as I visualized what could have happened. The scent had been all around her home, thick and suffocating, and she had slept alone in that house with nothing to protect her. My jaw clenched hard enough that it felt like something had snapped.

"I gotta go," I mumbled, tearing myself away from the table, from her, despite my entire body shouting at me that I should stay.

I lost my skin the second I was in the safety of trees, ripping at bark and kicking up dirt as my entire body put all it had into the run. A snarl shot out of my mouth, a clear sign that the wolf was just as enraged as I was. Our _mate_ had been in danger, close enough that it could have all been ripped away before we had even gotten the chance to enjoy it. My stomach heaved at the thought and I pushed myself quicker to get to her house, to go over the lasting stench that the corpse had left behind her. It wasn't any thicker, no matter how hard I shoved my muzzle to the ground, no matter how many times I traced it into the woods and off the cliffs. The feeling in my chest wouldn't go away, making me feel the need to both run back to the school and take Brynn somewhere safe, somewhere guarded, but also making me want to stand at her house all night, until I could sink my teeth into a stone-cold body and erase the threat that was put on my imprint.

My _imprint_.

The word gave me the knowledge to keep pushing myself, half of my focus on finding anything new and tracing over the old whilst the other was on her. Brynn Price. Her name kept echoing in my head along with her face, her laugh, her smile. It was on an endless reel. The way she looked at me for the first time, like she had felt every little thing I was feeling, was the loudest out of all of it. I knew she didn't feel it, at least not to the same extent, because there was no possible way that anyone had ever felt this much towards someone in their life. Sam and Emily had something and I wasn't blind to that, but the idea of it being anything close to what I felt looking at that girl in the cafeteria today didn't seem logical.

I started going over things I wanted to know about her. Wanting ever piece of knowledge about her was a given, so I started a tier list that I kept repeating in my head of what was most important, what I couldn't go without knowing. Her middle name. Her favorite time of the day. Her favorite movie. What made her laugh. What made her cry. Her idea of the perfect way to spend her day. Whether or not she liked La Push. Whether or not she liked _me_.

Part of me knew how ridiculous I sounded; hadn't I just been talking about the impracticality of me ever finding the person I was meant to spend the rest of my life with? Hadn't I just been talking about how I couldn't care less what she was doing and who she was doing it with? Now the thought had me pacing, snarls ripping from my throat as I thought about her lips on someone's skin, about someone's hands on her's. I hadn't ever pictured myself as a possessive person because I hadn't had a reason to believe myself to be one, but I wasn't too sure about that now.

The internal ramblings went on until I caught hold of her scent again; sweet lilac. My head tilted back to look for the sun, trying to see what time it was, and was shocked to see that school had already been let out. It was stupid, I knew that much without needing to be told, but that knowledge was nothing to me as I followed along her side in the thicker parts of the wood, occasionally able to catch a glimpse of her cream colored hoodie, or a flash of her hair in the sunlight. She was humming to herself, some song that I had never heard before, and as off tune as it might have been I couldn't get enough of it. Did she sing in her free time, maybe in the shower?

Occasionally, when she would start looking in the direction that I had been walking in, I'd try to mask my presence by slipping into the other side of the trail. I knew it was bad enough to have shown myself last night without reason, but seeing as I was already making mistakes I didn't see how it would hurt to make just one more. Maybe that was why I felt bold enough to slip out of my hiding, or maybe it was because she held her pocket knife like a vice that I was worried her fingers might be bruised once she finally let it go. I tried to keep my body in a low crouch, my ears flattened, attempting to give off every sign that I wasn't anything to be remotely threatened by. The hammering in her chest told me it wasn't working; what girl in her right mind wouldn't be terrified of a giant canine bounding out of the woods towards her?

It was then that I could smell blood, her blood, and the most pathetic sound came from me that I might've been embarrassed if I hadn't heard the way it seemed to ease her just the slightest. She had hit the ground hard when I came out, chin tucked to her chest and shoulders over her neck, and I couldn't help but be proud. Maybe it wasn't much to something like me, but that didn't mean her effort wasn't respectable. She kept herself safe as best as she could; my imprint was a badass. I wouldn't want it any other way.

I crept towards her slowly, only stopping when my muzzle could touch at her wrist, ears still flat and my stomach partially exposed. Slowly, Brynn eased up on her hand, giving me access to the tiny scrapes that her palm had endured from the fall. I don't know how long we spent like that, my tongue smoothing over the shallow cuts as her heartbeat slowly began to beat normally, but I would have stayed that way for the rest of my life if I could've. It didn't make much sense to feel so at ease when I couldn't even speak to her, but the knowledge of comforting her comforted me more than anything else had in my entire life. When I pushed my head into her hand, trying to take just a sliver more of her trust, it pulled another sound from my chest that I hadn't ever experienced before. I didn't mind it too much; lowering my head and letting my eyes slip shut. After only getting a few quick hours of sleep this morning, I could have slept in this spot for the rest of my life.

The call with her dad was a quick reality check; I was in the open, she had to get home, and there was a vampire somewhere that wanted something. To put myself at ease, I walked her the entire way back to her home, listening to the steadiness of her breathing and basking in the occasional touches she made against my fur. Perhaps it wasn't entirely intentional, but it was a touch that she didn't pull away from and that was all that mattered to me. When we made it to where the treeline ended and her yard began, I paused and looked at her. It was insane, the overwhelming desire to go with her, be with her, protect her, but I steeled myself to settle for a simple inhale against her forehead. I had noticed before that's where the scent was strongest; her shampoo maybe, or just a naturally lilac scented girl. Unable to resist the urge, I exhaled heavily against her neck, letting the scent of me hopefully fall all over her, a clear warning sign to anyone else.

When I left, I could still feel her eyes on me.

I felt the change in my head before I could hear that Jared had phased in, always attempting to sneak up on us despite the fact we shared a link to each other's every thought. Without me even having to ask, his mind played reels of the moments he had gotten to talk to Brynn, the way her voice sounded when she said my name to another girl behind Jared's seat in history. I wanted to hear it for myself, see if it had a different ring to it when she said it while looking me in my eyes. How would I be able to handle going all night without her?

_Sam wants you to come over to Em's place_, Jared cut in on my mental monologue.

A whine tore threw my throat as I looked over my shoulder in the direction of Bynn's home. I had already been going over the trail another time, almost daring for something to cross my path.

_I know you don't want to man_, my brother said, carefully, as if he understood at all what I was going through. He didn't mean for me to hear it, but he was also thinking _Damn, I've never heard Paul make that sound before. _

_What if it comes back, Jare? _The thought alone was enough to make me snarl viciously, spit flying from my mouth. _She was so close to being gone. So fucking close. I never would've even…._

I trailed off, knowing my thoughts would only work me up more than I needed to be. Clear head, that's what we all needed tonight. In order for patrol to work and for this undead bitch to stay the fuck away from my imprint, we needed clear heads.

A snippet on the conversation Jared and Sam had before he left to get me played through our minds. Sam was wanting to go through different routes, trying to cut her off at the pattern that she seemed oh so good at repeating, but only randomly so we would never catch on. My legs, though resistant, finally were able to take me in the direction of Sam and Emily's home and away from the Price house.

_I want someone on watch_.

Mentally, I could see Jared turn his head to the back door of Emily's house where Embry waited, ripping a sandwich apart as if it were his first meal. _We've got it covered. Just waiting for you to come through the clearing and he'll be going. _

That reassurance was all I needed to fuel myself to move faster, once again feeling a swell of gratitude for my brothers rise up in my chest. Here I was, barking orders, and everyone was so prepared to give me this little bit of peace of mind. I had never had a family before, growing up without a mother and a father who was just as drunk as he was abusive. I thought the pack might be that for me now.

_We are_, Jared eased. His head lowered as he saw me, dragging the top of his muzzle and head against the underside of my muzzle and my neck in a wolf-like display of affection. _We'll keep her safe, Paul. She's pack now. _

I didn't have the words to show my gratitude, so I settled for bumping my head against his before phasing out. He did the same and we got dressed in a tense, but comfortable silence. I hadn't ever let too much emotion pass in the link aside from anger and I almost wished we were still phased to see what Jared was thinking now. I didn't let it eat at me too bad; there were new patrols to be ran and new strategies to be talked about, and I wanted to make sure my head was entirely in that. Embry walked by us as we left the treeline, patting my shoulder as he went.

"Congrats. Maybe you jinxed yourself. I should try: I'll never own a Lamborghini. Woe is me. No Lambo. It just won't happen…" He continued this until we could only hear the sound of paws hitting the earth's floor.

"He's got a point. One day you're swearing off the idea of having an imprint, and the next you've got the hottest girl in La Push as your destiny? I mean-"

I knocked Jared so hard against a tree that the impact would've shocked both of us if we were human. My forearm was against his throat, my teeth bared as I snarled. "What the fuck did you just say?"

He took it in stride, the way he always seemed to do. "Alright, okay. I'm just saying, I'm glad you got stuck with someone cool like Brynn and not a bitch, okay? No disrespect." His hands were in the air and his eyes were lowered, a clear surrender. I let him go, though my hands still trembled as we made our way into the house. "So much for not being possessive, huh?" He teased, ruffling a hand through my hair.

If the pack was the closest thing I had to a family, then Emily's house was the closest thing I had to a home. The warm, comforting setting had housed plenty of memories, both bad and good, and I couldn't help but smile a bit as we each pressed a kiss to Emily's cheek before taking our respective seats at the table. It was a natural thing to us to show our alpha female affection whenever we saw her. Sam may be the leader, but Emily was the soul of everything that we did. Now, watching her plate brownies in the yellow room, I couldn't keep myself from wondering where Brynn would be if she were here. Would she be cooking with Emily? Sitting at the table beside me?

"Heard the good news, Paul," Sam said in greeting, walking into the room in the basic attire of shorts and no shirt. "Brynn Price seems like a good kid."

"Thanks, man." I couldn't stop the beam on my face if I tried.

Emily came over to smooth my hair down from Jared's previous gesture. "Do you get to spend much time with her at school? It's a good way to get to know her, you know."

Before I had time to reply, Jared cut in. "We have history with her, and I think he has seventh hour with her. You have Carson, right?"

"Oh, you'll have her fawning over you in no time," Emily assured, setting the plate down on the table. I dug in immediately, suddenly realizing that my missed lunch wasn't the best idea I had ever had.

"More than she already is. Talking about him in history, the constant staring during lunch. If I didn't know better, I'd say she imprinted on _him_." Jared's words were punctuated with the engulfing of an entire brownie. He had the decency to look sheepish when Emily gave him a scolding via her mother-like stare.

"We need to talk about the leech," I said, thinking of Brynn home with nothing to keep her safe. I knew Embry was out there and that he would protect her with everything he had, but that still didn't make me feel any better about the situation. "It was at her _house_, Sam. Stared right at her. You should've seen her today; she didn't sleep at all last night. Fuck, I can't even stand being here knowing how close that thing was to-" My sentence broke off in a growl, shoving the plate in Jared's direction as my stomach churned at the images that polluted my mind now.

"Paul, calm down," Sam warned, and I didn't miss the way he put himself between Emily and I. Under the weight of the alpha's order, I couldn't help but stop the beginning tremors. "Ever since that night you ripped her hand off, she hasn't returned to the reservation," he said, taking his seat at the head of the table. "I'm thinking she's aware she's weaker. She's off balance. Her climbing skills won't be as great and therefore her biggest escape route from us has been limited."

I sat straighter in my chair, elbows sliding on the table as I nodded. "So we keep patrol as usual and when she comes back, we block her off from every other exit she uses. The cliffs, Forks, and the woods near Brynn's house."

"That leaves one of us to chase her in the direction of the others'." Jared had abandoned the brownies in favor of paying better attention to the new plans.

"Exactly. Instead of chasing her as a pack, one of us leads her towards another and the others meet us wherever she hits first. Besides," Sam paused, looking between the two of us calculatingly. "It might be more than one to chase her by the time she comes back."

I knew what he was talking about without him having to say; Jacob Black had been showing the signs for months now, bulking up and getting pissed off at every little thing. I was thoroughly convinced the only reason he hadn't earned his I'm a Werewolf Boyscout badge was because of the infamous Bella Swan. The leech-lover had a tight hold on him that cooled him off before he had even begun to shake at times. A single glance from her pushed his phasing back weeks. It wouldn't be shocking if she was his imprint, though to share a table with a tick fucker wouldn't be the best thing I ever did.

"We all will have assigned points," Sam started up again.

I cut in before he could finish. "I get the woods near Brynn."

He continued like I hadn't said anything at all. "Embry is our fastest, so he'll be the chaser. Jared, you'll take the cliffs while I take the woods near the Price place. Paul-"

"Like hell you will," I snapped, standing up from my seat fast enough to slide it back a few feet. "She's my imprint, Sam. Mine. If it was Emily's home on her routes, would you want anyone other than yourself at her front step, protecting her?"

He snarled, and I knew it was more at the idea of Emily in danger than my speaking out. "Do you want this to be over, Paul? You're our strongest fighter and the best in combat. You need to be at the exit she's most likely to take, and that's Forks."

His tone said not to argue, and I knew everything he said was reasonable, but that didn't stop me. "She needs _me_, not you. I'm the strongest and that's exactly why I should be with her. You take-"

"Paul!" My throat closed up at the power in his voice, my eyes immediately locking down on the table instead of on his. Jared, completely untouched by the conversation, even casted his glance to the floor. "You will be where I tell you to be."

"If you let anything happen to her, Sam, I swear to God…" My hands rubbed over my face, pushing up to tug at my hair a bit. The fear was a tornado inside of me, sucking in every other emotion and leaving me with only that one thing.

I could feel his hand touch my shoulder and squeeze. "She's pack, Paul. I'll protect her with my life."

I knew he meant every word of what he had just said, but all I could do was nod.

"Okay, so," I sighed. "How the fuck are we getting the bitch to come back here?"

**AN: Hey, buckeroos. I want to say a quick thank you to the two sweethearts that reviewed the last chapter. I'm happy to see you're enjoying it! I know there are some questions you can't wait to have answered, but just trust me when I say the wait will be worth it. For anyone who doesn't know, this is taking place in New Moon, with Victoria running through La Push, the Cullens missing, and Jacob on the verge of dipping out on Bella. Where do you think the story is heading next? Do you think Paul is going to explain everything to Brynn soon, or do you think he's going to wait and get to know her first? Like always, make sure to review to give me your thoughts! **

**-****T**


	7. Internal

**INTERNAL**

_Brynn_

That night, I dreamed of wolves and Paul Lahote.

Some of them were weirder than others. There were times when I'd look up and see Paul standing before me, before I blinked and it was the silver wolf that had been coming around. Their eyes were the same, and I couldn't remember if they always had been or if my dreams were playing tricks on me. My father had always called me a dizzy dreamer when I was younger, but I chalked this up to my subconscious thinking of the Quileute legends that my dad told me when I was younger and putting that with my conscious thinking nonstop of Paul and the wolf. The feeling within the dream was peaceful; whether it was Paul's hand on my cheek or the wolf pressed his nose to my forehead, there was never a hint of fear to be found.

The red eyed woman didn't make another appearance. I woke up feeling physically and mentally better than I had in so long, but I blamed most of that on the fact it was Friday. I guess it was noticeable too, because when I walked into study hall I was greeted quickly.

"You look a hell of a lot better," Jacob commented when I sat in the chair beside him. "No stalkers last night?"

The silver wolf flashed in my mind. "No, lucky me it seems that all the excitement has died down for now. What about you? Get some good beauty sleep for your date tonight?"

His cheeks flushed. "Fuck off, it's not a date," he grumbled, sheepish all of the sudden. "Just a group going to the movies. We're seeing Face Punch, man. Not necessarily the epitome of romance."

I laughed at the idea of Jacob trying to put his arm around Bella as fake blood splattered on the screen. "You know, I think that's exactly how it should be done."

It grew quiet for a few moments, my math book dragged out along with a pad of paper. I had finished the assignment last night, finding it easy after having done it my sophomore year in New York City, but it was nice to have something to focus on regardless. Though sleep had been great and I felt amazing after a full night of sleep, there was something keeping my chest feeling a little tight. No painful, but as if I was forgetting something, or preparing for something that was exciting.

"Hey, Brynn," Jake said, pulling me from my thoughts. His brow was furrowed, fingers plucking at the opened pages of my book, clearly thinking hard. "I know we aren't super close and all, but I see you as a friend, you know? I wouldn't want anything bad to happen to you, or for you to get into anything dangerous."

It was my turn to scrunch up my brows. "Uh, thanks? I hadn't planned on doing either of those things, though."

"It's just-" He froze, mouth twisting as he considered his words a little more. "Just. I've heard a few people talking about you, people that aren't necessarily good company to keep, you know? And I've seen you talk to them, too."

I tried to think of all the people I had spoken to, trying to pinpoint where his concern might be stemming from. Was it the quiet kid in my biology class? He seemed like a stoner, but harmless enough. Maybe it was Katie Hughes, and Jacob was trying to spare me from my demise via gossip.

"Help me out a little, Jake," I laughed, trying to ease the tension as best as I could. "I have no idea who you're talking about."

His voice became lower, like he didn't like saying it just as much as he didn't like talking to me about it. "Jared Cameron and Paul Lahote."

It was just a name, but it was enough to make that feeling in my chest loosen just a little. Along with it, so did my rationality. I could feel my eyebrows shoot up in surprise before they pulled back together in something else. Who was Jacob Black, a sophomore in high school, to tell me that I couldn't be around Paul Lahote?

"Jake, if this is about his dating history and-"

"No," he was quick to say, interrupting me. "He doesn't date these girls, he uses them. And I'm not even talking about that; I feel like you're smarter than being into a guy like Paul. I'm more so talking about what they _do_, the little cult they started. Embry used to have all these theories about them, and suddenly he's attached to them like some fucking lap dog. It's weird, okay? People think they're doing drugs, that the elders don't want the police coming around the reservation so they cover for them with this security bullshit."

"A guy like Paul?" The rest of his words had hardly registered as I stayed hooked onto those two first sentences. I gathered my things as I spoke, shaking my head ever so slightly. "What the hell do you know about Paul Lahote other than some stupid ideas you and your friends came up with? Our dads work _with them,_ Jacob. Are you going to tell me that Billy and my dad are shooting up right along with them?" I scoffed, yanking on the zipper of my backpack and standing up. The teacher had been gone for ten minutes on a coffee run, anyway. I knew people were staring, probably had heard our conversation over the soft ones going on around the room, but the chance of caring was slight to nonexistent right now.

"I'm just trying to look out for you, Brynn. What the hell?" Jacob asked, incredulous. A part of me knew he had good reason to be, that I was being overdramatic and far more defensive than I needed to be over a group of boys that I didn't even know well. But that part of me was small, microscopic at best, so I didn't bother with a response before storming out of the classroom.

I slammed full force into a warm, hard wall. The impact had me scrunching up my nose as I stepped back, a hand coming up to press gingerly at it.

"Fuck, are you okay?" The offensive wall said, and I could feel whatever had been laced around my heart cutaway instantly. Whatever the thing was that had been causing the weird sensation all morning, looking up into the eyes of Paul Lahote had made it feel nonexistent.

"God, what are you? Made of stone?" I asked, half laughing and half trying to hide the embarrassment I felt for rushing head first into his chest.

In another context, that didn't sound so bad.

The humor bounced off of him though as he continued to look at me, concern causing creases in his otherwise flawless face. "Let me see, okay? Are you bleeding?"

He didn't wait for my response, his warm hands gently easing mine away so he could trail his fingertips over the bridge of my nose. It was overreacting to the max, but I didn't take the time to tell him that, enjoying his warmth more than I should've been. So I watched him instead, taking in the intensity of his eyes, his high set cheekbones and the slight stubble that was beginning to regrow over his jaw. It seemed like I couldn't look at him without reminding myself just how beautiful he was. I hadn't realized that I was leaning towards him ever so slightly until his eyes flashed to mine.

"So?" I asked, high-pitched and clearly uncasual as I took a baby step back. His hands fell to their sides and I ignored the urge to bring them up to my skin again. "Am I going to make it, Doc?"

The concern melted slowly from his face, only still lingering in his eyes as a slow, smooth upward curve came to the right side of his mouth. "Don't know, might need you to stay a while just to be sure. Could be internal bleeding."

"Luckily I'm playing skipper, so," I said, pointing my thumb over my shoulder to gesture the door I had walked out of. I watched Paul's eyes trail my finger and then land on the door, and for a split second his smirk faltered into something that hinted towards anger. "What about you? Planning on taking off?"

There we go, he was looking at me again. "Depends on the company." He took a step backwards, waiting for me to start walking with him before he was joining me at my side.

Our fingers brushed once and I felt like I had just touched a gentle light socket with a fork; the electric current that had passed between us was strong enough to leave me breathless, yet pain wasn't a part of it. When I let them brush again on purpose, it happened again. Maybe rock wasn't what created Paul, maybe it was light instead. I looked up at him, openly staring, as I thought about my new theory. It could be sunlight; maybe he was around to keep people warm, keep things full of light. Though I had only been around him twice, I found it hard to believe that there would ever be a time that Paul deserved the things people said about him behind his back. What could he do that was so bad?

"What are you thinking about?" He asked when I hadn't responded, but I didn't miss the way his smirk quirked up just a little more. He had definitely caught me staring, not that I was trying to be coy about it.

"Honestly?" I asked, and at his nod I continued. "I'm trying to figure out where all the bad that people see in you exists. Drugs, sex, anger… I feel like most of the conversations I've had here have been to warn me away from you, and I can't for the life of me see why."

Paul was quiet for a moment and I glanced up at him, trying to see if maybe I said more than was considered normal. To my surprise, that cool smirk had turned into something softer, resembling sweet honey and soft silk. My heart fell to my stomach, getting twisted up in awe that seemed to come from simply being around this one person.

No, I decided. There was no more bad in Paul than there was in anyone else.

"So," he said finally, exhaling the word. "You're not going to listen?"

"Not in my nature to listen to rumors." I quickened my pace to step in front of him, pressing my back to the wall and tilting my head up to look at him. "To be honest, I feel like being around you even _more_."

Paul took a step closer to me, the warmth radiating off of him in waves that I welcomed instantly. His hand flattened itself to the wall above my head, giving him the perfect angle to lean over me. The liquid chocolate of his eyes were watching me closely, so intense, and for a brief second I hoped he'd lean in closer.

Instead, he pulled the right side of his lips in another smirk. "I can live with that."

Around us, the tone sounded to signal the end of the second hour. I blinked multiple times, trying to regain my grip of reality before I was able to look up at him again. It really wasn't fair, the way he seemed to so easily disorient me with a simple expression. He was still in that same position, keeping me boxed in like he was shielding me from the passing student bodies. My dad had always told me to never let myself get cornered against a wall by a stranger, but as the gold flakes in Paul's eyes continued to watch me, it was hard to believe this was my first time talking to him.

"What are you doing this weekend?" He asked, keeping me from having to find my own voice. "Have you checked out the reservation much since you got here?"

I shook my head before remembering that normal people speak when spoken to. "Actually, no," I said, straightening my spine a little and therefore pressing my face closer to his. I saw his eyes jump from my eyes to my lips and back and I smirked: finally a victory. "I was planning to check it out, though. My dad keeps saying that I need to familiarize myself with my new home."

Something flashed in his eyes whenever I said the word 'home', but it was gone just as soon as it came. "Need a tour guide?" Paul asked, and his voice was so smooth, so soft that I probably would've said yes to anything he asked me right now.

"Depends on the company," I whispered, fixing the straps of my bag. "I need to get to biology before Embry has to actually pay attention for once. Will I see you in history?"

"If you're there, I'm there." He let his hand slide down the wall, straightening his back and nodding twice. The way he said the words sent warmth down my spine, as if it meant more than just a promise to be in class. Boldly, he reached out a hand to tap the bridge of my nose, making me scrunch it. "I'll see you then, Price," he mumbled, smirk back on as he began to walk away.

I watched his back, taking the first real breath since bumping into him. "Can't wait, Lahote," I whispered, and I tried to pretend that his lips didn't stretch into a wider grin, as if he heard me.

It was a work day in biology, so luckily the minute that I had been late was only spent gathering in pairs and beginning research. Embry wasn't even pretending to do his work, instead attempting to balance a pencil on the bridge of his nose. Things like this reminded me of just how young these guys were; sure, they were my age, but I wasn't walking around all night defending an entire reservation, was I?

"Where the hell have you been?" Embry demanded, tone playful as he let the pencil fall to the floor while sitting up straight. "No, wait. Let me guess."

I would have blushed had it been anyone but Embry chastising me. "What, am I hogging up your Paul time already?"

It was the wrong thing to say. "Already, huh? Two of you planning on spending more time together?" There was a shit-eating grin on his face as he spoke.

The rest of the class went like that, snide comments from Embry and me trying to shoot everything he said down. I attempted multiple times to change the subject, or to at least get him to read a paragraph or two from the chapter we were meant to be presenting over, yet he didn't falter once. But eventually, the topic of Paul got him talking more and more about him in a way that everyone else didn't.

"He's a good guy, you know? Mrs. Littlesea had a leak in her roof one night during a big storm, and this kid spent all night patching it for her and after like, two hours of sleep he went back to redo the entire thing for her when it dried up. Didn't even let her pay him in more than a sandwich and water," Embry said. "Don't tell him I said any of this because I'll never hear the end of it. But I know how everyone here talks about him and I'm not saying you can't listen to them, just know there's more to it, okay?"

"I'm not much for listening to gossip, anyway," I mumbled, but my head was somewhere else.

This Paul, Embry's version, made much more sense to me. Looking at him and seeing the warmth that was stored inside him, more than just physical, there was no way he fit into all the other categories the students had shoved him into. I could picture it so clearly; Paul drenched in rain, hammering away at a roof just to keep a woman's home from being damaged. Paul, smiling politely and turning down money with the request of something to eat so Mrs. Littlesea didn't feel offended by his rejection. I decided I had been right about him being made of sunlight, and maybe that was why so many people seemed to misunderstand him. Stare too long, go blind. Get to close, you burn up. Some people weren't capable of handling something so intense, but I couldn't help but long for the next time I'd get the chance to burn beside him.

School had always seemed like it went by so slowly, but nothing compared to the complete drag the minutes were when I was looking forward to seeing Paul at lunch. My eyes automatically found his table when I walked into the cafeteria, only to be slightly confused when he, Jared, and Embry were all missing along with their usual mounds of food. Hadn't he said he'd see me in history? Maybe he had to cut out, duty calls and all, but that didn't stop the disappointment from blooming like a flower in my stomach.

"Looking for someone?"

Ah, there he was. I turned slowly to look up at him, tray in hand as that same smirk glanced down at me. "Yeah, actually. Thought you bailed again."

"I told you, didn't I? If you're there, I'm there," he said, beginning to walk in the direction of his table. He paused when he noticed I wasn't following, jerking his chin slightly in an invitation.

"Just a sec, okay?" I quickly made my way to Kim's table, tugging a strand of her hair once I got close enough to announce my presence.

"Hello to you, too," she grumbled, swatting at my hand but turning to face me with a smile on her face. My expression must have read what I was thinking, because that smile faltered. Her eyes went from my face to my lunch bag in my hands and back up. "Are you crazy? I can't go over there- he'll think I'm totally weird, not speaking and just staring at him like an idiot!"

"But look!" I replied, gesturing in the direction of their table and trying to ignore the heat from Paul's gaze. "He's not even here. Perfect chance to let the other guys know that you're not a complete idiot and that you can speak."

It took some convincing, but eventually we made our way over to the other table, Kim trailing a few steps behind me like I was a protective shield from her impending embarrassment. Paul smiled up at me, leaning over to pull the chair closest to him out so I could sit down. I did, pulling Kim down beside me and setting my bag on the table.

"Guys," I said slowly, making sure Embry's face was out of his bag of chips before continuing. "This is Kim. Kim this is Paul and Embry."

"I know their names, you know," Kim huffed softly, but the boys grinned like they had heard the retort. "It's nice to meet you guys. Let's not make this awkward."

And that was pretty much it, everyone going to their own meals and small talk occasionally filling the air. Embry got Kim talking a little bit about some english assignment that I didn't relate to, and Paul took the opportunity to turn towards me. The distance must have been too far for him, because he reached over to tug the seat of my chair more in his direction. His hand brushed my thigh when he removed it, sending that same current flowing through my body, and I couldn't tell if it was intentional or not.

"Is that better for you?" I teased, opening up my container of guacamole and setting it in the space between us along with a small bag of chips.

He helped himself, nodding his head. "Much, thanks." I blushed, he smirked. "What time should I pick you up tomorrow?"

Embry and Kim were mid-conversation, he had even been talking when Paul asked, yet he had still been eavesdropping enough to offer Paul a not-so-subtle fist bump under the table. Kim caught my eye long enough to shoot me a wink before she was responding to Embry, once again leaving me and Paul to our own little piece of the world.

"Nine," I said finally, dipping a chip and eating it.

"Early bird?"

I thought about which truth I wanted to give him before deciding he could have them both. "Yes, but it also just gives me more time to figure you out."

This had him pulling a face. "What about me are you trying to figure out?"

"The truth." My eyes searched both of his, that warm feeling spreading from my chest to my fingers and all the way up to my cheeks. "I just want to know you, Paul. Everything I've gathered about you has either been hearsay or stuff I'm making up as I go."

His smile was soft, maybe even humored, as he watched me. "What are some of the things you've made up by yourself?"

I could feel the heat in my face and I quickly looked away from him, picking at the container lid in front of me. What was I supposed to do, tell this kid I thought the sun shined out of his ass? I was supposed to be some feminist, a fighter for social justice, I couldn't be caught swooning like this. I pulled one of my legs up to rest my chin on my knee, biting at my lip in thought.

"Oh, now you definitely have to start talking, Price," Paul said, smirk back in place as he looked over my face. "A reaction like that means you've given it some serious mental debate. Come on." He shifted his chair away from the table to face me head-on, close enough that his knee pressed into mine. "Let's hear it."

I squinted at him to see if he'd give, but he was set like a statue with expectant eyes. "Fine," I huffed, linking my fingers behind my leg and leaning back.

"Take your time, we've got twenty more minutes," he chuckled, leaning forward to rest his elbows on his knees and slide his hands over one another, dark eyes on me.

My heart skipped a beat.

"I think you're made of-" I thought about anything to say but _the sun_. "Warmth. Your eyes, your smile, your touch… It's all filled with something warm, you know? And I think that's why I've heard so much bad about you; either people get burned or they are left cold and it pisses them off, right?" I brought my thumb nail up to rub over my lip in thought. "Like today, someone told me that I should stay away from you because they think you and Jared are on drugs. _Drugs_. When in reality, he's just pissed off because Embry joined in helping you guys out and therefore he lost his friend. Left him cold. See? It makes sense."

I stabbed at a few pieces of lettuce from my salad, taking a bite as I waited for his response. When I didn't get one, I glanced back over at him and froze at the expression on his face. I couldn't explain it as anything but awe; his lips slightly parted as his eyes, now honey gold with the light coming in from the windows, trained on mine. That feeling from before, that same warmth and protective shield that seemed to come around with Paul, was creeping around me once again.

"If this were a movie, you would kiss me right now after looking at me like this," I whispered, looking from him to my fingers and back.

His expression didn't change. "I'm thinking about it."

The honesty made my gaze bounce between his lips and his eyes, my heart picking up where it was caged in my chest. Logically, I knew there was no reason Paul Lahote and I should be kissing in the middle of a busy cafeteria, but I also knew that there wasn't really a reason not to be, either. I thought about who would see, what they would think, but then Paul's tongue slipped out just enough to wet his lips and I realized it didn't really matter.

That smirk came back. "I'm not letting our first kiss happen here," he reassured, but all I could think about was the implied promise that there would be one.

"Thank God," I sighed, but it was more to catch my breath than out of relief. "I'm not much for PDA, anyway."

The intensity eased, but the obvious static between the two of us remained the entire time we were talking. Occasionally I would talk to Kim or Paul would talk to Kim or we would both attack Embry, but for the most part we kept our conversation to each other. When we got situated in history, me between him and Kim, he turned to me instantly. He began asking me questions, silly little things that I didn't find too important but he seemed to eat up.

"What's your middle name?"

"Malia; it means 'calm'. Yours?"

"Nahele; it means 'forest'. Favorite time of day?"

"Sunrise."

"Sunset. Favorite movie?"

"_Apocalypto_. Careful what you say here; I take movies very seriously."

"Never seen it. _Patriot. _What-"

I cut him off, my hand flying out to press to his chest as my jaw unhinged. "You've never seen _Apocalypto_? Dude, are you _okay?_"

"You're being dramatic," he said, rolling his eyes. I could feel the heat of his skin through his shirt, but it didn't warm me nearly as much as his fingers did when they wrapped around my wrist to pull my hand away from his chest. His touch stayed as he held my hand, turning it over and running his fingertips over the tendons in the back of my palm. "What's it about?"

"Well," I started, eyes on where his fingers were now running over the scars on the back of my thumb. His skin was golden against mine. "It's basically a shitshow in regards to factual history, but if you take away what it's supposed to be about and just think of it as fantasy, it's beautiful. But it's in Mayan, so you have to read the subtitles. We'll watch it sometime so I can make sure you genuinely like it."

Our clasped hands fell to his thigh as his head went back in a theatrical display. "Subtitles? Brynn, c'mon, you're killing me."

It was just a name, but it was _my_ name being spoken by _Paul_ for the first time. It hit me like an embrace, wrapping me up and keeping me close. I could tell my expression was different by the way one of his eyebrows ever so slightly pulled up, a silent question that would never get an answer. I just smiled softly, my fingers squeezing his twice before slipping my hand away to fill in a blank on my sheet.

I had dated and been attracted to boys and girls, there was no denial in that fact. But everything that came with Paul seemed entirely new and a thousand times more intense than anything that had ever happened with anyone else. Just seeing him put my heart at ease, like there wasn't possibly anything to worry about whenever he was in my line of sight. Love was something that I had taken off the table years ago, and I knew it was too soon to be calling what happened inside of me whenever Paul came around love, but it was still something and I was so curious as to what that something was. I thought about asking him, because I knew that there was no way the current that went between our hands just now was imagined or one-sided. I kept it to myself though, wondering if maybe there would be a better time and place to have that conversation.

"So," Kim whispered, leaning into me so her lips could be closer to my ear. "Paul definitely has the hots for you. If Katie Hughes had seen him holding your hand like that, she would've melted on the spot."

I forced a laugh, too caught up in my own thoughts. "We're going out tomorrow," I whispered back, still distracted. Hadn't I thought the image of Paul holding Katie Hughes' hand ridiculous? Had it been who's hand he was holding that made it seem so impossible?

"Like on a date?" Kim gushed, eyes wide as she moved back just a little to see my face.

"I mean, yeah? He didn't necessarily call it one, but…" I glanced over at Paul, who drew connecting circles on his blank worksheet and pressed his knee into mine. "It's a date."

I didn't understand the look on Kim's face until she spoke again. "Listen, today at lunch I thought it was just a cute little moment while you talked to Embry because you're friends, right? But Paul Lahote doesn't hold hands, doesn't take girls on dates, and definitely doesn't move seats just to talk to one."

I didn't know how to respond to that, a mixture of worry and hope stirring deep inside me. My dad had said that we wouldn't leave again, but he had said that so many other times it was hard to believe anymore. For the first time, I wanted so badly to stay still, to put up a fight if my father ever mentioned the idea of looking at houses somewhere new.

She glanced around me at him, lowering her voice even more. "Brynn Price, you really are stirring up some trouble, aren't you?"

I looked at him again, nodding slightly. Maybe it was too soon to call it love, to put a name to whatever floated in the air between Paul and I, but that didn't give anyone the right to cut it down. I would cause trouble if my dad tried to take this away from me.

For Paul, I would.

**AN: Hey kiddos, sorry this one took a bit longer than the other ones to get up. I was testing you to see if reviews would come in, and it somewhat worked. I thought about setting a total of reviews I want to get before updating the story, but I'm not sure if I can handle keeping what comes next to myself anymore than you guys can wait for it. With that being said, I am still expecting REVIEWS. Here's some questions if you guys don't know what you want to say yet: What do you think of the relationship between Brynn and Paul? Are you excited for their date? Do you think Jared is going to imprint on Kim, and if so do you think it will happen soon? What do you think is going on with Jacob? Do you think he will imprint on Bella? Most of all, do you like the story? What about it do you like/dislike? Review, review, review! **


	8. Warm

**WARM**

_Paul_

The past few months of my life, my hands had only shook for one reason: anger. My blood would boil to the point that steam sometimes rolled off my body, my hands trembling from the fight between man and wolf for control. At first, I never attempted to hide it, didn't bother to school myself into a calm and collected guy like the rest of my brothers did. No, I didn't care for people to see how I felt, to recognize danger when they paired my shaking and my expression.

Today, all of that was different. My hands shook from nerves and I didn't want anyone to know that. I had woken up at seven to try and prepare myself for the day. I had gone on a run, something that didn't help when I came by Brynn's house and found that she had the same idea. I stayed tucked in the safety of the trees this time, but I trailed her close enough that she occasionally stopped and glanced in my direction, even calling out to me at times. Luckily it was Sam on patrol, so the opportunity for shit-talking wasn't possible without me throwing his own imprint-induced tendencies getting launched back at him.

When she was safely inside her house, chatting with her dad, I turned tail and ran back to my place to get ready. The shower wasn't long enough, and neither was the time it took to pick out what I wanted to wear. It was like something out of a shitty movie montage, the amount that I changed and threw my clothes. In the end, I gathered something nice enough and decided to head out before I changed my mind. Dark blue jeans that only had a few frayed spots, a charcoal shirt with a flannel over it to at least seem like the cold affected me, and my worn leather jacket. The last piece was more for hope than appearance; if she got cold, I'd be able to give her something that would have her covered in my scent.

The drive to the Price residence was equally too long and too short. The nerves were still eating at me, but the anticipation to see her face again was higher than any of that. I made sure the heat in my truck was high, thankful once again for the beautiful vehicle my uncle had given me. He was a hot shot doctor that had married my mother's sister from the Makah tribe, and since I had shot down every chance he took to get me to come live with them after my dad kicked the bucket, he had given me the 2012 Toyota Tacoma on my sixteenth birthday. It was a little flashy for the typical vehicles on the reservation, but when it came to trying to impress my imprint I was more grateful for it than ever.

I left the engine running when I got out, though I knew that I would be speaking to James Price before we left for the day. Risking the heat in the car to get too low before Brynn could get in was a chance I wasn't willing to take. I almost made sure the center console was raised, but that was all in innocence. My hands still shook as I reached the front door, so after knocking I quickly shoved them into my pockets, trying to appear casual and the least bit concerned. It was ridiculous; I knew Brynn liked me, had heard enough from Embry, Jared, and even her to not have a reason to doubt that. And still, I knew there would be an opportunity for her to change her mind, to decide that maybe being around me wasn't as fun as she thought it would be when all the mystery wore off.

The door pulled open, and my time to talk myself into a pit was cut short. "Paul," James greeted, offering his hand for a quick shake. "Good to see you on a different basis for once. Come on in, she's still upstairs."

"Yeah, you're telling me," I sighed.

I walked inside and looked around, noting the new layout of the space I had a hand in creating for them. The couch and TV had been moved, but I wasn't surprised by that. The window seat was occupied by a small stack of books and a pair of earbuds, and I couldn't help but smile at the image of Brynn curled up in the sun, flipping through pages and listening to music, a little golden ring around her from the light outside. The pillows I had put there were indented from where her back rested against them, a sense of pride rocking through me at being the one to provide a place for her to relax.

"Don't think I've ever seen her this nervous," James chuckled, bringing my attention back to him. He looked tired, sighing as he leaned his body against the entryway into the kitchen. "She asked for my opinion on two different outfits already. _My_ opinion. You must be under her skin already, Lahote."

I bit my lip to conceal a smile. "She's definitely under mine, sir."

This made him grin wide, nodding his head. "I can't tell you how happy I am about your imprinting on her, you know. Not only for the guarantee of her protection and love that I know will come with it, but for some selfish reasons of my own." He looked behind him to ensure that Brynn wasn't coming down from her room yet. "I know I don't need to give you the Dad to Boyfriend talk, that you'll be good to her until the day you die, but we do need to have a different conversation."

"Yeah," I nodded, squaring my shoulders a bit as the smile I had been fighting went away, defeated. "I know you hate lying to her, but I have to ask for more time. I don't want her to feel like her choice is being taken from her."

James nodded, but I could tell by the look in his eye he wasn't agreeing. "She won't have a choice to make if that thing comes back here, Paul."

A snarl tore through my throat and I had to fight the urge to cross the floor and have him by the neck. "It won't go near her again," I growled. "I can protect her. I _will_ protect her. The pack has new positions, it won't be able to touch foot a hundred yards from this place without being taken down."

"Relax, son," James said, holding his hand up in surrender. "I'm not doubting your ability to keep my daughter safe. But I think that her being in on the secret and understanding her threats better will make her more complacent in going to Emily's, in being around the pack more. Not just because she wants to, but because she needs to. If there's anything you need to know about Brynn, it's that she's stubborn and has this dumb notion that she can be a burden. She would be happy to spend time with you guys every second, but she would also get in her own head and think that she was imposing, crashing the party, all that."

I didn't respond for a moment, thinking about what he said. It all made sense; Brynn might be bold, but she was also kind and aware of the people around her. If she thought for a second that she was intruding on the time that pack spent together, no amount of reassurance would get through the stubborn head of hers until she knew everything. That means the legends, the imprint, and the vampires that were lurking out in the woods.

Before I had the opportunity to get my reply out, the sound of Brynn rushing downstairs cut the thick silence into nothing.

"Dad, he's here!" She shouted, in the midst of unbraiding the half of her hair that was still up. "Where is my- oh, Christ."

I couldn't help the grin on my face if I tried; she stood like a moody teenager that just got caught sneaking out. Her arms crossed over her chest, leaving her braid only half way up, and rolled her eyes- was she wearing makeup? Even with the annoyed reaction to seeing I was already inside, her lips were still hitched up in a smile and her earth-colored eyes were lit up as they looked at me.

"Oh, shit!" James said with false surprise, gesturing wildly at me. "Paul's here!"

"Asshole," Brynn grumbled, knocking her fist against her dad's arm as she walked by him. "Since you wanted to be early, you get to wait," She said to me, but her fingers tugged at my jacket before she moved to grab a petite, braided bag off the window seat.

"Hey, now," I chastised, leaning back against the wall. "I was expecting a warmer welcome than that."

She scoffed.

In all honesty, I don't think there was a warmer way for Brynn to welcome me. Being in her presence was enough to make me feel as if the sun was beating over me, but a steady breeze was keeping me cool. I knew Sam had always warned us of the dangers that came with being close to people when phasing, Emily stood as an example of just how bad things could get, but I couldn't picture ever being so unaware of protecting her that I chanced hurting her.

As she busied herself with unbraiding her hair again, I took the chance to check her out. She wore black jeans with intended distress in the knees, cream colored and knitted socks peeking over the tops of her black boots. Her sweater was the same color as her socks, knitted and loose fitting as it hung off one of her tanned shoulders, a lacy white strap on display and making her skin look even darker. The sleeves of the sweater were cuffed to reveal a gold bracelet, little rings hooked together to make the dainty piece of jewelry, along with a brown leather band. She wore a single chain necklace, also gold, reinstating just how warm of a person she was. Brynn turned to look at me when her hair was down, falling in dark waves over her shoulders and giving me a good view of her face. Her lashes were darker and longer, eyelids painted brown that made the green in her eyes stand out even more. Easily, she was the prettiest thing I had ever witnessed, and I knew that fact wasn't ever changing.

Her lips were untouched, still their natural pale pink, and I couldn't keep myself from hoping that meant something.

"You look-" I started to say, eyes still trailing over her, but she cut me off.

"Don't say it until we're outside, I'll never hear the end of it otherwise," she grumbled, shooting a look towards her dad that made me wonder if she was actually mad. "We'll be back after the drugs wear off, old man. Love you."

James laughed as she pressed a kiss to his cheek. "Weed and psychedelics only!" He called as she opened the door, and I was quick to follow. "Good luck, Paul. You've got your hands full with that one."

"I don't doubt it," I laughed, saying a quick goodbye and pulling the door closed behind me. When I turned, Brynn was ogling my truck, running a hand over the front and trailing it all the way to the passenger door.

"How much money these elders paying you, Lahote?" She asked, letting me catch up to her. I rolled my eyes as I opened her door for her, and she took it as encouragement. "Seriously. I don't know anything about cars, but this has to be expensive. Are there seat warmers?"

"It was a gift, and the elders pay jack-shit." I watched her buckle up and begin fiddling with the radio, still standing in the open passenger door. "Hey, seriously," I said, reaching across to grab her hands more for touch than to make her look at me. It worked for both; wide green eyes found mine as that passing electricity went through both of our hands. "You look beautiful, Price."

It was unfair, but I paired the words with the same smile that I was noticing always made her heartbeat stutter just slightly, unable to keep it small when I saw the light blush welcome itself to the highpoints of her cheeks. I leaned in just enough to press a soft kiss to her temple, inhaling the rich scent of lilac that always came with her being around, before pulling back and closing the door.

As I walked around the car, I could hear her whispering to herself: "Okay, Mr. I'm-So-Sexy-I-Can-Make-You-Forget-How-To-Speak."

I had to school my expression when I got into the car, though I was still smiling. My imprint thought I looked good, who wouldn't be a little giddy about that? I started the car and turned the heat up before beginning to back out, able to feel her eyes on me the entire time.

"Where to first?" She asked after we had gotten on the road, pulling her knees up so her feet hung off the seats. "The beach?"

I shook my head, pulling up to a stop sign and taking the opportunity to look over at her. She was already staring back. "First, I'm taking you to the cliffs. Then, we'll grab lunch at a local diner that the Clearwater's own and walk at a few tourist shops that are around there."

Her eyes narrowed at me, curious. "Then beach?"

"You really wanna go to the beach for a girl that is only wearing a sweater in February."

"I'll go butt naked to the beach during any season, thank you very much," Brynn huffed, leaning back in her seat. I didn't miss the way she put her hands towards the vents, and I turned the knob to bring the heat up.

The ride to the trails was filled with Brynn asking question after question, and unlike me, she didn't answer them herself after I gave her my own answer. I didn't call her on it; it would be my turn at the next location, and I was storing up everything she was saying to me.

"Have you ever been out of the state?"

"Went to Canada once."

"So you have a passport?"

"I didn't say that."

Her eyes glimmered with curiosity, but she kept it to herself. "Where's your mom from?"

"Makah Tribe up north." I didn't say I wanted to take her there, that I wanted her to meet my aunt, my grandma, or the other people in my family that I hadn't seen in over a year.

"And your dad?"

"Hell, probably."

Brynn looked at me, the familiar look of pity not twisting her face but something that looked more like anger was, as if this news pissed her off somehow. I couldn't bite my tongue like her. "What's that look for?"

She turned her eyes to the road, smoothing the back of her thumbnail over her bottom lip in something I noticed was a habit. The car was silent aside from the hot air rushing out of the vents and the occasional patter of rain whenever we drove under trees. I was about to change the subject and let her off the hook when she finally spoke.

"I hate the idea of someone hurting you," she said, her voice hard as if she were trying not to yell. "And the people at school? God, they're such jackasses. I don't know a thing about your dad or how you grew up, but I know enough about what you just said to know it wasn't as good or as easy as half of those kids got."

My smile was small as I reached a hand over, aiming for any part of her and trying to mask my surprise when she took it in both of her small, cold ones. "Didn't know I had such a good bodyguard around," I teased, trying to lighten the mood.

"Well you do," she grumbled, clearly not taking the bait for jokes. "I mean- look. I don't know what you're wanting out of this, but I don't care. If you want to have sex, cool, can't wait, let's do it. If you want to date, that's even better! If you're just a nice guy who doesn't know when he's flirting and genuinely just thought I needed to see the reservation, that's spectacular, love it, can't get enough of it. But listen," she twisted in her seat to face me again, her little hands clutching mine tightly. I was thankful for the stop sign when I got to it, wanting her to know she had my full attention as I put the truck in park. "Do you feel this?"

She had lifted our hands up, the buzzing nearly audible as it rushed through my skin, traveling like heat through my veins and into my heart. "I do, yeah," I whispered, because it seemed like talking any louder might break it.

"Exactly!" Our hands fell into her lap. "I don't know if you believe in soulmates, if our fate strings just got entirely tangled, if our signs are compatible, if the stars aligned and were shining down on us when we first met, but I know this is something, right? So whatever you want to do, I'm up for it. Whatever you want to be, I'm up for it."

I didn't know what to say for the longest time. Emotions were flowing through me like a river into a lake, making me feel unsteady. There were so many things she said that I was trying to focus on, trying to handle images of sex with the images of the stars and somehow piecing them together along he way. How could she feel it this much? I knew it couldn't be normal, that there had to be some rational explanation, that maybe she just stuck up for the kids with shitty childhoods and felt the need to do that now.

Sheepishly, like she had just realized how much just came out of her mouth, one of her hands left mine to push a lock of hair behind her ear. "I'm just saying, keep me around, okay? Because I want to be there. Maybe I don't know why yet, but the point is that I know." Her voice was so much softer than it had been before, an obvious hint that this wasn't a position she put herself in often, if ever.

"I want you to be mine," I said finally, speaking what I knew to be the truth. "And I'm not talking about the shitty indie films, high school sweetheart, bullshit type of way. I mean the call me when you get home safe, show up to my place unannounced, view all my family as your family because they fucking are way." One of my arms came back so my hand could rest on the headrest of her seat, taking in her wide eyes and parted lips. I wanted to kiss her right now, something was screaming at me to do it, but I held back. She needed to know first. "There's a reason for what you're feeling, you know? And, honestly, I told your dad this morning that I wanted to wait to tell you all of this, to let it make sense to you whenever it seemed like you were ready, but fuck-"

Lilac was taking over every sense of my body, every nerve ending suddenly hyper focused on _this_ instead of on whatever I was going to say. Her lips pressed hard against mine, the hand that had been laced in her's now on the back of her neck, bringing her closer as the other slid up her thigh, wrapping around the back of it. It wasn't every cliche every poet wrote about, every cliche that they talked about in the books and the movies. It was _more_. The fireworks, the electricity, the storms that came with the push and pull of our lips was art in every aspect of the word. My tongue slid across her bottom lip and her mouth parted easily for me, _me_, the taste of her being stored in the place of every memory I had ever had, taking its place at the forefront of my mind.

If looking at her made me warm, kissing her set my entire being on fire.

"Oh," Brynn breathed when she pulled back just enough for the tips of our noses to be touching still. Her eyes were still closed. "I wanted to know, but I didn't think…"

"Yeah," I rasped, swallowing in hopes of clearing my throat. "Neither did I."

A horn blared behind us, bringing me back to the fact that we were parked at a stop sign in the middle of one of the busiest streets on the reservation. Typically, that would've pissed me off bad enough to get out of the car, but now all I did was throw the truck in drive and stick my finger towards the back window.

Brynn didn't move back to her side of the car, meaning that my arms stayed wrapped tightly around her, keeping her as close as possible. At some point, she reached forward to turn the heat back down, a content sigh leaving her lips as she sunk back into my side. I could have stayed in that exact place for the rest of my life. I was hoping that, for the sake of every other version of myself out there, this exact moment existed in every universe.

"Up for a hike?" I asked once I pulled into the gravel lot that was offered at the bottom of the cliffs. It was the first words that had been spoken since we kissed, yet the air didn't seem thick with any negative tension.

Brynn lifted her head, pushing her upper body over my lap to peer out my window towards the trails that led uphill. "Paul Lahote, are you trying to make me fall in love with you?" She asked, glancing at me over her shoulder.

"Absolutely." Before I could convince myself not to, I leaned forward and pressed another kiss to her lips, pulling back before either of us wanted me to. She sat back in her seat, tugging the stretched neck of her sweater up a bit in preparation for the cold. "Are you into hiking?" I asked, shrugging out of my jacket and handing it to her.

She took it without argument. "Are you kidding? Anything to do with being outside is a craving of mine. I do have an irrational fear of ticks, though."

I couldn't keep myself from chuckling at the pure irony in her statement. "Don't worry," I reassured, stepping out of the truck and giving her my hand to help her out. "I'm a natural at tick killing."

The hike was another inquisition, which I didn't mind as I kept behind Brynn to make sure she didn't slip or trip. I was actually impressed; even with how fast I could have been up to the cliffside, it didn't feel like we were going impossibly slow. She also didn't have a problem with getting dirty, occasionally grabbing a branch to pull herself up particularly steep parts and then turning around to wipe her hands on my jeans.

"Dirt shows up on black too easily," she defended when I pretended to try to do the same. "Besides, who doesn't love a dirty man?"

And, really, what was I supposed to say to that?

She asked me more about my mom and nothing about my dad, clearly not wanting to push where she thought a dangerous place might be. I would've told her all of it, anything she wanted to know, but she brought the questions from my mother's tribe to easy things, like snacks and music.

"Honestly, I can't remember I listened to something that wasn't what the radio offered me," I admitted, scratching at the back of my neck sheepishly as she stared at me in shock.

"Don't you need music to listen to while you're patrolling? Or building? You have to have a favorite artist," Brynn accused, falling in step with me as the trail leveled out a bit. "Let me guess. Rock and roll? ACDC, Metallica, Godsmack? Uh. Dark and broody? Linkin Park, Three Days Grace, Papa Roach? Hm, okay. A secretive pop lover? Ariana Grande- no. Wait. If we're soulmates, then you have to have a secret passion for Taylor Swift. Do you? Just admit it now so we can listen to her on the way back."

I laughed and she joined in with me, and I couldn't help but notice how good we sounded together, how truly perfect the universe had gotten something this time. "Hit the nail on the head, actually. The one song about guitars and lipstick really had me."

She laughed harder, and another overwhelming surge of pride flooded me. I could get used to making her laugh like that, to keeping her eyes lit up and her smile wide. I wanted to.

We made it to the top of the cliff, where I had asked Jared to lay out a picnic blanket at the very edge when I heard there wasn't supposed to be rain this morning. A basket was set on top of it, and I couldn't keep myself from looking over at Brynn to gauge the expression on her face. Her eyes were still lit up, but her teeth were biting into her bottom lip, keeping that little information from me.

"I didn't take you as a romantic, Paul Lahote," she whispered, sending me a gaze that melted my soul before making her way to the blanket.

I followed, wary of her being close to the cliff. "I wasn't before you," I admitted, taking a seat on the blanket in a place that ensured my hand could grab her if she slipped. "Wasn't much of anything before you, honestly."

The words had her looking back at me, a strange expression on her face as she took a seat in front of me, kicking her boots off. I slid the basket over to her and she opened it, pulling out two bottles of water and taking a long drink from one.

"Don't say things like that," she said finally, looking out over the water. "Maybe you didn't feel like you were much of anything, but you were. I knew the second I laid eyes on you, that day I asked Embry for his number, I knew. Everyone else does, too. You just don't see it in yourself."

My fingers toyed with the label on the water bottle, slowly inching it off as I thought. "Nah, I wasn't. I was a guy who fought and fucked all the time, that's who I was." I knew she was going to interrupt, to argue for me the way she had taken to doing lately, so I quickly finished. "But I'm done with that now. I promise you, Brynn, that I'm going to be worthy of the way you look at me. I'm going to be good enough for you."

Green-brown eyes searched mine for a moment, but I wasn't sure what she was looking for. We both took drinks from our waters and I watched her bury her nose into the collar of my jacket. She might've thought that her inhale was hidden, but I could see and hear it clearly. My wolf howled inside of me, happy at the idea of our mate enjoying our scent.

"Okay, so," Brynn sighed, stretching her legs out and nudging my boot with her socked foot. "What is it that my dad didn't want you to tell me?"

Oh, shit.

**AN: Two updates in one day because you guys deserve it. I know the kiss probably seemed a little rush, and that maybe their feelings for one another seem to be, too. But I want to emphasize that the two of them have a very strong, very close bond. Just trust the process and hang in there, guys. Got a couple reviews (both which made me so very happy) and I am encouraging you guys to give me more. Tell me what you really want to see! I know we already have angst coming up in the future, but what else do you guys want? Hot and steamy? Angry Paul? Soft Paul? More pack time? Review, review, review! **


	9. Knelt

**KNELT**

_Brynn_

I almost took the words back after witnessing how quickly Paul's face hardened as if I had just asked him to relive the worst memory he had to offer me. Could something genuinely be that bad if my father had wanted me to know as soon as possible? The thought was foolish; my father was quick to voice any hint of a concern he had to me, a firm believer that everyone on alert meant the best possible outcome.

"Cluelessness is suicide," he had once told me.

I was ten.

That was what kept my mouth shut now, brows furrowing to match Paul's as I pulled my knees up to my chest to await whatever thoughts he was trying to organize into true words. It wasn't that I didn't want to touch him, but I needed the feeling of something concrete to hold on to, and right now my legs were the closest thing. It had always been a habit of mine, a weakness that no one but my father knew about. To find the most solid thing near me whenever I felt any overpowering surge of any type of emotion, be it fear, sadness, excitement, or even nerves, was what made everything seem real whenever it happened. Right now it was the latter, because I couldn't imagine Paul telling me anything good with a look like pure internal turmoil on his face.

"I was hoping we could at least get through the day first," Paul eventually said, voice low against the crash of the waves hundreds of feet below us and the sound of the trees rustling in the cool breeze the late winter air offered. "Thought maybe you have one day to feel like things were on your terms."

That did nothing to help me come up with theories of what I was about to be told. What did my right of choice have to do with any of this? As far as I was concerned, things had been on my terms this entire time. I mean, _I_ had to be the one to make the first move on _him_. If anyone had control right now, it was me. There wasn't a doubt in my mind, and there never would be.

"Don't worry about me," I laughed softly, resting my chin on my knee. "Everything is up to me whether you know it or not. The universe and I? We're like this." I held up my hand and pulled my middle finger over my index finger, signifying just how tight I meant.

It wasn't entirely true. I'm sure that if the universe considered me her best friends, I probably would've grown up with teddy bears and a mother rather than daggers and crossbows. Maybe it was one of those toxic, one sided friendships that me and fate seemed to share. But, I digress.

A sarcastic laugh leapt from Paul, his fist wrapped up in the palm of his other hand as he looked out over the drop. "You already know what I'm going to say," he finally said, head turning to look at me again. "Maybe you don't think you do, aren't aware of it, but deep down? Yeah, you know."

"Dude," I deadpanned, growing more and more curious with every word that fell from his lips. "If your next words aren't what I'm waiting to hear, I'm shoving you off this cliff."

That earned a real laugh from him, and my heart swelled at the sound. Even in my state of anxious curiosity, I still couldn't seem to shake wanting him to feel more at ease. A large part of me, shoved deep down under the heavy weight of my desire to know, was hoping that this wasn't something that changed everything. As selfish as it probably was, I couldn't imagine having this, sitting here with this person, torn away from me by some secret.

"You know the tribal legends?" Paul asked, and once again his view had dropped to where his hands were. He was drawing something in the dirt near the blanket with a twig.

I nodded. "Yeah, my dad used to read them to me all the time when I was kid. Said it was a piece of my mom to grow up on. Pretty gruesome bedtime stories, though."

A long pause filled the air. Paul's dirt drawing was his main focus, eyes trained on it. He didn't speak again until the stick was tossed to the side, hands dusting each other off, and his warm eyes locked on me again. And the look in them, the emotions that flashed through them, all attacking one another to get to the forefront of his mind, had me stunned. I had seen anger flash in his eyes before and I had seen the gentle fondness with which he always beheld me, but this was something entirely different.

This was fear.

"They're true," he said, voice deep with emotion he wouldn't let out. "Me, Sam, Embry, Jared, we all… They're true, Brynn."

I didn't talk for a long time as my mind tried to grasp ahold of what he was telling me and trying to gather evidence to support the idea. Sure, they were out of school, they stayed up late, called themselves security, but that didn't necessarily have to mean that they were something supernatural. I thought about his hands on my face, the way the cold never seemed to take away from the heat that radiated off of him. The way he always seemed to catch things that I said without being anywhere close enough to truly hear it. I thought about the way his hands would shake, how he had to excuse himself whenever he got angry rather than get it out of his system in the open.

Then, I thought about the woman with the red eyes standing in my yard, the way her arm had been torn off but it wasn't raw and open, like flesh. It was chipped and broken, like solid marble.

My head shook slightly, eyes dropping down to the toes of my boots. "I'll have to see it to believe it," I said, though there was no reason for the uncertainty. There wouldn't have been so much struggle to get the words out if they weren't real.

"You already have," he responded, voice low.

A gasp that I hadn't intended left me as my head whipped up, my eyes connecting with his instantly. It was like being put into a tornado as the images of the large, silver wolf whizzed through my head. In the woods, the night I was shooting. The walk home from school. My run this morning, catching glimpses of grey between the endless browns and green. Of course it was Paul, the fact that I hadn't put it together before truly astonished me. If I had seen the wolf today, properly, there would have been no mistaking the deep, rich eyes for anything but the boy in front of me right now.

The memory of another legend came to mind and with it was the image of Paul the day we met in the cafeteria. This pull, the wire that seemed to tighten around my chest, the hot electricity that ran through us at every touch, his promise of being wherever I was.

"You were worried about me not having things on my terms," I said quietly, feeling dazed as all the information flooded my brain.

I heard him stand, felt his hands on my knees as he knelt in front of me. I didn't look, couldn't, as my unfocused eyes stayed trained on where he had been drawing in the dirt. It felt like a dull roaring in my ears, louder than the crashing waves, but soft enough to hear the deeb breath he took. Even with everything going on, the feeling of his large hands wrapped around my knees grounded me more than anything else ever had. It was an intoxicating feeling, this unnatural promise of steady ground whenever I needed it, and my hands covered his almost instinctively.

"Say it," I whispered, finally able to pull my eyes to his. "Tell me."

"I imprinted," he said, sharp jaw working to get the words out. His hands slipped from underneath mine only to cover them, the heat from his palms warming them almost instantly. "I imprinted on you, Brynn."

It was all insane; giant wolves, evil vampires, and the idea of soulmates that bound their lives together at a simple glance. It was impractical, supernatural, and completely unrealistic in the world that anyone else lived in. But this world was mine, and I'd never felt like it made more sense. My father training me to use fire, my mother being from the Quileute reservation, my moving here and meeting someone who made me feel things I hadn't known existed before.

My hands left Paul's and for a split second I saw the flash of fear that had shone in his eyes from before come back amplified, and my bones felt like they were breaking at the mere sight of it. They replaced on his face, caressing either side and I watched his eyes go from mine to my lips, the gentlest of smiles being found there, letting that fear melt away into something else, something louder than any other emotion I had ever endured: hope.

"I'm not going anywhere," I promised him, and I could've basked in the light the smile on his face gave me.

"Fuck," he exhaled, falling back enough to sit and keeping his hands on mine. "You couldn't have led with that? Do the dramatic 'tell me' shit afterwards?"

Playfully, I took a swing at his arm, but he caught my wrist and pulled it to his mouth, pressing warm lips to my skin and letting it linger there for a moment. Now that I was aware of why I had such intense reactions whenever he looked at, talked to, or touched me, I welcomed the thrill of goosebumps down my spine and the blush in my cheeks. If this man-wolf was supposed to be in my life forever, I might as well get used to being openly flustered around him now.

"I had to keep you on your toes, Wolf Boy," I shot back, but our eyes were warm as we looked at one another. "Especially now that I know you've got superhero capabilities."

He scoffed but didn't deny it, and I let myself enjoy this. The way I was warm here, sitting between his legs with mine over his thighs, despite the fact that the weather should have turned my nose red by now. Then he leaned in and kissed me, gentle and soft and full of so many promises that I couldn't keep up with but welcomed anyway. When he pulled back, I pushed forward, letting my lips linger at the curve of his jaw for just a moment, chills rolling down my skin at the animalistic and soft growl that came from his chest.

"So," I said after a moment, once it finally felt like I could speak without blushing. "The redhead from the woods. Did you take her down?"

"Nah," Paul sighed, and I could hear the frustration in his voice. I brought my hands up to absentmindedly stroke at his palm, anything to give him some type of distraction from his anger. "I got a good chunk out of her, though. That's the closest we've gotten to taking her down. She keeps coming back to the area, but we don't know what she wants."

The images of her ruby colored eyes staring me down forced themselves into my mind, unwelcome and vivid. Her lip had been curled up in a silent snarl, but she hadn't made any move towards me at all. If she was smarter, she would have hurt me to leave the wolves to deal with so she could make her great escape.

I was overjoyed she wasn't smarter.

"Are there others?" My voice sounded worried, and I tried to remind myself to keep that uncertainty hidden. I would be fine, the wolves would be fine, and my father would be fine. That was all that mattered.

"Used to be an entire family in Forks," Paul spat, his upper lip curled in disgust at the very image of it. I couldn't blame him; a family of undead, blood-hungry and indestructible beings living next door to his people, and only yards away from others? "They bailed a few months ago, something to do with Bella Swan. The fucking prick left her in the middle of the woods. Not long after that, the redheaded bitch started hanging around and it was enough for the rest of us to Phase. First Jared, then me, then Embry. Next, Jacob."

My head picked up at that, eyes widening slightly with the information. There were so many different things I wanted to talk about, but where did you start when everything around you wasn't as black and white as you thought? Suddenly it wasn't just a boy she hung out with, but a soon-to-be werwolf, and the girl that boy was in love with had been going steady with a whole vampire family.

The thought made me shudder, and Paul pulled me into his lap before comfortably wrapping his arms around me. Maybe I would have found the position too intimate if this wasn't different than a first date between two kids in high school. "Cold?" He asked, lips against my temple as he said the words.

"No, just disgusted," I admitted, another shiver raking through me, only this time it was from the hot breath Paul had blown against my neck. "Bella Swan is so knowingly torn up over her ex, everyone can see that, even a newbie like me. But her ex is a corpse? A fucking parasite that sucks you dry and leaves you hanging?"

I couldn't see his face, but I could feel his smile against my cheek when his lips stretched. There was no telling whether it was from my words or some other source, but I pushed closer regardless, just happy to be making him happy.

"And Jacob?" I added, shooting back so I could look at Paul's face. He was paying attention, his brows low to prove that he was hanging on to my every word, but he was also currently captivated by our fingers laced together. "Honestly, I'm _glad_ this is happening to him. I understand it runs you guys dry and you hardly have time for anything, but Jacob Black could use a little humbling."

"Are you talking about what he said about me and the guys?" His tone held the softest bit of amusement, but I could tell he had been pissed off whenever he first heard about Jacob's little warning.

"Yes," I said angrily. "You should've heard him in there, Paul! 'They do drugs, they use women, they abuse their positions,' I mean, come _on_."

"Oh, I heard him," Paul chuckled, taking another swig from his water before passing it to my awaiting hand. "Was considering going in there and telling him to mind his fucking business when you walked out."

I replayed the meeting in my head, unable to keep from smiling. It was strange to know that had only been a day before, that somehow Paul and I were strangers who just so happened to know one another's souls.

"And shattered my nose," I scowled, reaching up a hand to poke at the bridge as if it would still be tender. My hand dropped to poke at his chest before smoothing over to the curve of his bicep, momentarily distracted. "I guess the whole wolf-thing really treats you right, huh?"

"Doesn't hurt," Paul admitted, and I chose to ignore the way his eyebrows wiggled at me just slightly. "Added strength, supernatural hearing, the ability to sprout tails… Think it's all really just plus, plus, plus."

"Could be worse," I offered, slipping away slightly. His hands stayed in their place at my hips, not holding me there but just wanting to keep that consistent contact. I moved to put my head in his lap, making it easier to stretch out the rest of my limbs. "You could be a normal kid, no supernatural abilities, with a father who has ingrained fighting techniques and the different ways to shoot a gun, bow, and taser since you were like, eight."

At my self-deprecating laugh, Paul's lips pulled down at the corners. "What about your mom? Where's she?"

The question had my laughter cutting off, my eyes flickering from his to the sea of grey that was the sky. "My mother was Kala Baker before she married my dad," I whispered finally, and I knew from the way that Paul's body went rigid that he knew the name, and he knew it well. "My dad pulled up the car after everyone finally got back from the hospital. My mom had to pee so bad, she didn't do more than kiss my head before rushing inside and leaving my dad to deal with me and all the bags in the car. I'm still not sure how the fire started, my dad gives a few theories every time but nothing really makes sense. My mom was in flames before my dad had even gotten the chance to go in, and the rest of the house went with it."

There was a long silence, and I kept my eyes on the clouds, on the way that the trees occasionally seemed to disappear into them before popping back out again. How lucky it must be, to have no responsibilities but to exist and grow. I could cry. When I glanced at him, I saw something that looked almost like anger, or confusion, flash across his face before he schooled it into something else.

"My mom, too," Paul said, and so much time had passed that I nearly missed the meaning behind the words. When I gathered what he was saying, I pulled an arm up to hold on to his, earning a smile that said things hurt, but they couldn't hurt as bad anymore. "I was eight when it happened. I didn't have a ride from school, which didn't happen very often, so I walked home with a bunch of the other kids on the reservation. There was an ambulance outside our house and a few cars from the Forks Police Department." He leaned in to press his nose to the top of my forehead, inhaling deeply and reminding me of the silver wolf doing the same thing not too long ago. "I got inside no problem, no one ever paying attention to the tiny kid that also lives there, you know? She'd done it in my bedroom; she was still hanging there when I walked in, wearing the same bruises and scrapes my old man had given her that morning. She had always said that we were twin superheroes with those marks, that it proved how hard we were fighting bad guys. She tried, you know. She tried really fucking hard to keep that bastard from touching me, but."

My heart fell to my stomach, a chill so cold that it felt like I could hardly breathe falling over me. A sat up slowly, as if worried about him being afraid of me, as if he'd flinch away and take off. He didn't, instead welcoming the touch of my body against his as I used our old position to hold him better. I hooked my chin over his shoulder, fingers scratching gently through the hair at the back of his neck.

It was worse than I had ever considered, the idea of a seven year old boy having to watching his mother's body hang in his bedroom, and even worse the boy having to suffer the beating of a grown man alone, without anyone to help him or keep him comforted through it all. I wanted to cry, wanted to tell him how sorry I was that he had to go through it, but the words and the tears didn't come. It wasn't my horror to cry over, and the soothing way my fingers raked against his scalp seemed to be enough for him, because that purring sound began up once more.

"I just want you to know why I've done bad shit," he said softly, hooking a hand under my jaw to pull my eyes to his. "I don't want you to one day wake up and wonder if you should've listened to the people talking about me being a hot-head player, or whatever the fuck they call me." I tried to speak, but his thumb pressed gently to my lips. "I know you're fully capable of making your own decisions, I guess I just wanted you to know who I am anyway."

"That's a big part of who you are, but that isn't all of it. You're the guy who went through that shit, not the guy living in that shit," I said gently, pressing the lightest kiss I could to his lips. "You were right though; I am fully capable of making my own decisions, and I have. I choose this, Paul."

"Hm, if you say so." He was feigning nonchalance as he leaned back, tucking an arm beneath his head as he looked up at her. I could see the brightness in his eyes, could feel how tight a hold he had on my hip even as he looked so casual. Not hurting me, just keeping me there with him. "Remember that when Jared and Embry invite themselves over to your place because I accidentally think that we're watching a movie at some point."

An eyebrow lifted. "What's so bad about thinking about it?"

"Oh, baby," he chuckled, looking at me and sending flare after flare of heat to my stomach. "There's so much you need to get caught up on."

**AN: This was not my favorite chapter, and that's definitely because I've been skipping ahead and writing chapters that are less fluff and more drama and angst. Jacob is phasing soon, you guys. What do we think that'll do to the dynamic? Also, Brynn took the news pretty well, so that's good! Honestly, after all the weird shit going on in La Push, I would've been surprised if she didn't believe it. Also, we got to see a little more insight to the deaths of our OTP's mothers, which was sad. Something doesn't make much sense about Brynn's story though, and what was up with Paul's weird reactions to that? Hm….. interesting. Review, review, review! **


	10. Talk

**TALK**

_Paul_

A loud, vicious snarl left my muzzle as I ran from the Price house towards the home of the chief of our tribe. I should've known better than to make so much noise near her home; I had felt her watching me when I initially took off, and now I could feel the pang of worry she felt when the sound had shook the air.

_What the fuck is going on? What's happening to me?_

The voice in my head nearly earned another snarl, but I held it back enough to be an aggravated growl as Jared fell in step with me, following the trail from his place.

_Jacob Black, you need to calm down, _Sam's voice filtered through and from his mind, I could see that he was staring down a russet colored wolf, it's muzzle pulled back in an angry and confused warning.

_Jake, look! _Embry yipped, and I could just imagine the way his tail probably wagged as he said it. Poor kid had been waiting months for Jacob to fully be a part of the pack. _You're fine, Jake!_

_Embry? What the FUCK is going on? _

_I have a headache already, _Jared grumbled just as we reached the treeline into the backyard of Black's home, giving us the full show of the three wolves standing in the moonlight, the light glinting off of Sam's dark fur.

_Think of the legends, Jacob, _Sam urged, his head high as he looked down at the new wolf. _Think of what we do. _

_When has that line ever worked?_

_Paul, enough, _Sam snapped.

The chocolate-colored wolf beside me huffed his amusement nipping at my side before he was jogging out to join the others. With another aggravated noise, I followed.

This wasn't how I wanted to spend my night. After the cliffs, where I had spilled the biggest secret of my life to Brynn and then shared every little thing I could remember of my childhood, watching her take it in and kiss my shoulder, my jaw, or my hands in between each one, we had finally moved on to lunch. I would never forget the look in her eyes, wide and surprised, as I ordered three different meals for myself, or the look on her face when I had playfully growled at her for stealing a fry.

"I'll flick you in the nose so fucking hard, Lahote," she warned, demonstrating her skill on the bottle of ketchup between us.

"I kill vampires, but try your damndest," I chuckled, but moved the plate of fries closer to her regardless.

The beach was easily my favorite part of the day, but for no reason other than the fact that it was so clearly her favorite, too. The second we had gotten out of the truck, she was tearing her boots and socks off before breaking out into a sprint towards the water. The seagulls were out, regardless of the chilly air, and I stood back and watched her chase after them, her laugh carrying over the wind and the waves to my hypersensitive hearing. Seeing her like that, I don't think either myself or my wolf had ever been so at peace, enjoying the way she would look over her shoulder to grin at me, my jacket covering her hands and creating a flipper every time she waved.

"Paul, come on," my imprint shouted, toying with the tides as she teased it with her feet before running away before it could catch her.

I was with her in a heartbeat, lifting her up and walking into the water as she laughed and shouted, her screams high-pitched every time I pretended to nearly drop her. Every idea I thought I had about love and happiness was suddenly reshaping itself, all taking the form of some part of the girl in my arms. I remembered feeling the urge to tell her, to whisper it into her ear when we sat in the cold sand, her warm in my arms as she coaxed me to put my calves over her toes. I didn't say it yet, wanting to save a piece of information that I could to surprise her with at a different time. I wanted to give myself away to her all in one go, but I knew that she would have so much more fun with dragging it out of me as the time passed.

When Brynn had finished with the beach, waiting until the sun had fully gone down because she refused to let me miss it, we had headed back to her house. She dragged me up the stairs, showed me pictures of her mom, of her as a kid, and let me pick her room apart for any more clues about her. The Taylor Swift adoration hadn't been a lie; Brynn had every single one of her CD's on the small shelf beside her TV, along with things that made no sense with the artist: Led Zeppelin went into One Direction went into TOOL went into Pierce the Veil. I had laughed when she saw it, earning a pillow that she threw with all her might in hopes of at least making me need to balance myself.

"_Apocalypto_?" I asked when she flicked on the television, lifting her legs into my lap as I took a seat on her bed.

She scoffed. "Right, so you could pay zero attention because you're making googly eyes at me? Nice try, Wolf Boy, but we're watching _That 70's Show_."

In the end, it had actually been her that had been caught staring more often. Maybe I was trying to prove a point, that I didn't always have to be looking at her, but the feeling of her gaze was warm enough that whenever it left, I knew I was safe to take a quick glance in her direction. Really, I just couldn't help it. The light from the show illuminated her face in all her high points, making her eyes look dark beneath her long lashes. And then, almost like she knew I was watching, she would occasionally slowly drag the tip of her tongue across her bottom lip before taking it between her teeth. I had only made it to the third episode before I was laying beside her, coaxing her towards me with a gentle hand on her hip that she moved all too easy for.

It seemed so simply cosmic that the two of us were supposed to be for each other, and it was all said in the way our lips moved together. The soft sounds I dragged from her throat were emphasis on every way we went together, and the way her teeth sunk into my lower lip were the stamp to send the letter. I kept my weight on my forearms as I leaned over her, kissing a trail from just below her ear, around her jaw, and down the front of her throat. I could smell her when my lips got to where her pulse beat beneath her skin, felt the way her thighs tightened around one of mine whenever I dragged my tongue across the space and followed it with my teeth, and it was all for me.

That was when the alien howl had filtered into the air, followed by the unmistakable call from the alpha himself.

So, yeah. I was a little pissed off to be here right now.

_Keep that shit to yourself, man, _Embry groaned, but not before I caught him replaying the way Brynn looked with her lips parted on a breath.

A warning growl was all I gave him as I started to move towards him, ears laid back in full display of aggression.

_MINE_, the wolf snarled, pulling its lip back in a full display of teeth. I didn't lessen the threat: we were on the same page here.

_Paul, now isn't the time_, Sam said. _Embry, shut the hell up before we have to take you to Sue to get patched up. _

_What the fuck? _Jacob's voice said again, before a string of memories played through his head.

I couldn't help but laugh at the series of events that had set him off: of fucking course the leech lover had something to do with this. Pulling her hand out of his, rejecting him for the umpteenth time, only for her little pale-faced friend to come out at the perfect time to set Jacob off just that little bit more.

What the fuck did you call her? Jacob snarled, eyes locked on me now.

The anger I had for Embry quickly switched over to the pup, baring my teeth at him as I remembered him trying to urge Brynn away from me, trying to get into her head to make her see me differently.

Mentally, I enunciated the words very slow: _Leech. Lover._

A roar ripped out of the russet wolf as he bounded for me, quick but unfamiliar with his new body. It took hardly anything for me to catch him in the side, topple him over, and have my teeth at his throat. It wasn't anything new; we all went through the same thing when we phased, establishing a certain hierarchy between ourselves the way the animals inside of us were so familiar with. Jacob may have been descended from Ephriam Black, but he wasn't anywhere close to claiming his title, or mine for that matter.

_Paul, that's enough_, Sam griped, once again wondering why he ever asked me to show up when newbies got involved.

_All good, oh captain my captain_. I snorted as I backed up from Jacob's still body, one last piece of disrespect to throw at him for trying to come between me and my imprint.

_Get the fuck over it,_ Jacob snapped, getting off the ground and shaking out his fur. _You're a fucking jackass. I feel bad for her if she's stuck with you for the rest of her life._

_Jake, _Embry started_. _

_The fuck?_ Jared growled as he stepped between Jacob and I, an unnecessary guard.

_At least she actually wants to be with me, hey? _I interrupted, letting the words roll off of me with the security that she accepted me. She chose me back. I may have also thrown in his own memory of Bella pulling her hand back, just to strengthen the blow. _Sam, tell him to keep his stupid mouth shut so we can get this over with already. _

Sam broke down the rules and responsibilities that came with Jacob's furry badge, telling him who he could speak to and who he had to keep his mouth shut to. I zoned out for most of it, my thoughts continuing to trail back to where Brynn had trailed her hands down my chest, before I would catch myself and start singing Wheels Around the Bus.

Break time was quickly cut short when Sam had to break out the Alpha voice, bringing my attention back to the two wolves in the center.

_I made her a promise!_ Jacob was growling, pacing in a line in front of Sam. _I just got her to trust me, Sam!_

_You want to protect her? This is how you do that, _Sam warned, and the images of poor Emily directly after getting scratched sprouted to mind.

Embry, Jared, and I all let out soft whines at the sight of our female alpha being hurt.

Despite all of it, we could already see Jacob figuring out when he would see Bella next, when she would be home for him to come see her, whether he should do it tonight. I laughed again, unable to help it, because seriously? Hasn't this kid found out were communicating through his fucking head right now?

_Shut the fuck up, Paul,_ Jacob snarled, all spit flying and ears back.

I laughed again. I couldn't help it.

_You __**will not**_ _tell Bella about what you are, Jacob Black. You __**will not**_ _have her come see you until you are no longer a threat. _Sam ordered, and even my knees shook from the power of his voice. Jacob was no match for it now; down he went, tail tucked between his legs and neck bared for their alpha before him.

Patrol was next to tackle, each of us having to show him the routes from our memories so he would have the down in his. He recited each path back to us perfectly, an easy accomplishment for someone who grew up walking those same roads and curves their entire life, and I could've collapsed in glee when it came to the part of showing the pup how he was going to be phasing back.

_I'm not relaxing with that asshole breathing down my neck_, Jacob grumbled when Sam started talking him through the process.

The annoyance in his mental voice made my tail actually wag. Twice.

_Paul, Jared, you guys are good to go. Do a quick sweep on your way back; we've been out here for longer than we should've. Jared, you're on duty tonight_, Sam sighed, and I could almost see the human in him rubbing at the bridge of his nose in annoyance.

I didn't even bother with a snarky comment before I was bolting for the treeline again, Jared and I snapping at each other's legs in a good natured, unfair race the way we always did. When our paths split up, we both ran even faster, pushing ourselves to be finished with our sweeps before the other. I was still thorough though, keeping my nose up in the air to check for any unnatural, unfamiliar scents. There was nothing, not even the stray rabbit, and I made sure to tell Jared so, only just now noticing that the voices of the others' had cut out completely.

_All good here_, Jared confirmed back. _Tell Brynn I said hi. _

He must have seen where I was as I stepped into the backyard of the Price house, moving towards where I had left my clothes by the back sliding doors. The light was still on, James Price sitting at the dining with a mug and a laptop, raising the former when he saw the jumbo wolf in his backyard.

_Will do._

Walking in the Price kitchen, I barely gave James a nod as I headed towards the stairs to Brynn's room. Maybe it was rude, but I had promised her I wouldn't be gone long, and two hours had already gone by since I had left.

"Paul," James said, making me look over from the second step of the stairs. "Come here for a second. I need to talk to you about something."

I listened carefully up the stairs, trying to detect any movement, any chance that maybe Brynn had heard her father's voice and would come down to drag me up with her. Listening, all I could hear were steady breaths, the shuffling of her blanket, and Kitty Foreman's voice.

With a sigh, I sat down in the chair opposite of James.

"What's up?" I asked, taking one of the apples in the center table and rolling it between my hands.

"Brynn said the two of you opened up to each other a lot tonight," he explained, slowly closing his laptop and pushing it to the side. He grabbed an orange, beginning to peel it. "She told you about Kala?"

Ah, now this made sense.

"She told me her version of things, yes," I said slowly, thinking back on the sad, lost expression Brynn's face had worn when she spoke about her mother's death. I had been so confused at the time. "I didn't correct her, figured that was something the two of you should talk about."

He thought for a moment, and once again I took the chance to listen to Brynn's even breathing and her mumbling in her sleep.

Inside, I grinned. Of course she would be a sleep talker.

"The vampire that killed her mother wasn't there for Kala, Paul," James said, and despite the warmth of my body I could still feel my blood run cold. The wolf inside of me was already snarling, taking in every smell around him as if the bastard would be around here now. "He was there for Brynn."

I couldn't talk if I wanted to. Bile rose up in my throat, burning like acid as the words played in my head. The image wasn't real but it was clear; Brynn, an innocent little baby who was only days old, already being threatened by things most people didn't even believe existed.

"His name is Adrian. He feeds on whoever, whenever he wants to, but that's only to keep him going. His real thrill comes from hunting pregnant women. He waits for them to deliver, kills the baby in front of the mother, and either changes or kills the mother as well." James swallowed thickly, reminding Paul that he wasn't the only one feeling sick right now, that this wasn't just his Brynn, but James' too. "In the early years of us moving around, Kala's brother was with us," he continued. "River was the only wolf on the reservation, but he took the chance of leaving to protect Brynn. She made it to three before Adrian found her again.

"We were in New York at the time. River and I had spoken and we thought that with so many people, so many other babies around, it would be hard for him to tell which one was her. We got home one night after going out to eat, and River smelled him. We waited until he revealed himself before we put the plan into action: River stayed there, distracted the monster for as long as he could to give us time to get away. I don't know how it worked, but it did."

I shook my head, trying to balance the insistent desire to protect the one thing that mattered to me in this world with the sick feeling of knowing that something was hunting her, trying to kill her.

"She's grown now," I finally said, looking at a circle in the wood of the flooring. "She isn't a baby, the sick fuck shouldn't want anything to do with her now."

"She's not a baby, but she is the one that got away, and that drives those disgusting things even more crazy," James said, and for the first time I heard genuine hatred in his voice. When I looked up, the man was snarling much like one of us would. "I knew this thing would never stop, would tear this world apart before it truly let her be, so I trained her. Taught her how to use fire as a defense and how to use it in every weapon available. Paintball guns full of gas, flaming arrows, matches if that was all she had. I know," he paused, running a hand through his greying hair. "I know how her childhood looks from the people outside, and I know it looks like I was taking away from her, but that's not what I was doing."

"You were trying to give her a way to defend herself," I said softly, the bond between the two of them finally making sense to me. The adoration in his eyes whenever he looked at Brynn was clear, but it didn't match up to the rough way she had to grow up.

"Yes." James nodded slowly, the partially peeled orange long since forgotten by now. "I lost the love of my life to that monster, and I refuse to lose Brynn the same way. When Billy called, it was to tell me about the newest whereabouts of Adrian. We weren't planning to move here, in the most obvious place for us to be, until he talked about you boys. He convinced me that La Push was the safest place for Brynn to be, even made sure that we had a home in the center of the four of your's."

"He was right," I stated, and there was an edge to my voice that I hadn't intentionally put there. A sharp edge, a promise that any ideas of this guy going anywhere with a target on my imprint's back was out of the question. "James, you know I'll protect her with my life, but she's pack now. That same loyalty and devotion comes from all of us. Jared, Sam, Embry, fuck, even Jacob."

I stood, my chair making a loud squeak against the floor as I did so. Pacing was such a wolf-like thing and I needed to do it now, to store all this information and to tuck it into a part of my brain that would allow me to feed it back to Sam perfectly. The redhead was a danger, an unpredictable and deadly visitor on the reservation regularly. But this Adrian? He was a promise, a sure visitor whenever he realized where Brynn was.

"She's not going anywhere," I stated, the words coming out on a growl, as if daring the older man to argue with me. "You're both going to keep your asses here, and we're going to tear this guy apart the second he steps foot on the res."

"I'm not taking her from you, son," James said, gentle. "I know that you aren't going to let anything happen to her."

I could see James raise his hands in clear surrender, but it didn't keep me from pacing, from the trembling in my hands. What made me freeze in my tracks was a soft, small voice from the stairs.

"Dad?" Brynn said, hair bunched up where her blanket wrapped around her shoulders. She looked so small, so horribly innocent and delicate, and it hurt just to look at her. "He turns into a giant wolf, getting him worked up isn't a good idea."

And it was so out of place in the disgusting world we were living in that both James and I couldn't help but to laugh, to give her this little piece of happiness when she was unknowingly surrounded by anything but. It was also the relief that I needed that she hadn't heard anything, not before James was ready for her to, so she was still able to be as oblivious as she could.

I made my way over to her in long strides, wrapping my arms around her blanketed form and pulling her close to me. My nose pressed into her hair, breathing in that safe, familiar lilac scent that reminded me that she was okay, she was breathing, and she was mine. If it hadn't helped, then the way she so trustingly leaned into my chest and rubbed at her tired eyes was enough to settle my hands and my heart all the same.

"Kid needs to take work less seriously, I think," James chuckled, standing up and stretching. "I'm calling it a night. Love ya, Rin."

"Love you, dad," Brynn mumbled, another yawn tearing through her as I started to coax her up the stairs.

"Walls are thin and so's the ceiling!" James called out just as we were at the top of the stairs, earning a surprised laugh from me and an eye roll from Brynn.

She closed the door behind us before shuffling over to pull closed the window, her cheeks pink when she caught me watching.

"I was worried that the back door might be locked," was all she said, and it was enough to make my chest feel tight.

We settled into bed, me coaxing her into the inside without having to provide any explanation for it. In reality, I just wanted to know for sure that nothing could reach behind her and pull her away from me, that I was an obstacle in the way of anyone, any_thing_ dangerous. Brynn fit against me perfectly, her cheek laying on my shoulder as her leg hitched up on to my hip, letting me trace things into her calf as she fell back into an easy sleep.

Watching her like this, cheeks slightly smooshed against my skin, eyelids dancing over things I couldn't see, I knew there wasn't a chance in hell that anything would ever get past me in order to take her away. Her little hand fisted in my shirt gave me all the willpower I needed, and when her lips came together just to mumble one thing, it gave me all the determination in the world.

"Paul."

**AN: Alright, buckeroos. We have now breached into intense territory. Brynn's backstory isn't as PG as we thought, huh? Now we got this Adrian wacko on the loose, Victoria is still running rampant, and even Jacob phasing? What in the world will we do? Tell me alllll about it when you review. I hope this caught a few of you by surprise, and come on, how many of you thought Brynn wasn't going to hear every word the two of them were saying? Don't be shy, raise your hands, I see you. Remember: Review, review, review! **


	11. Touch

**TOUCH**

_Brynn_

"Are you sure this is okay? I feel invasive," I said, earning what felt like the millionth eye-roll from Paul.

"If you ask me that one more time, I'm driving this truck off a cliff," he grumbled, though the upward curve to his lips told me he was enjoying my nerves all too much.

"Yeah," I scoffed, running a fond hand over the dashboard. "If you ever did that to Jules, we would both come back from the dead just to drown you again."

It was Sunday, and after a heated debate and a reckless wardrobe episode, Paul had somehow convinced me to officially meet the rest of the pack over an early dinner. I had tried to explain that I knew everyone, but he was insistent that I didn't know the versions of themselves that they got to be when they didn't have to worry about wandering eyes. It was what really did it in for me; if I was an imprint, then all of these people already saw me as part of their family, their pack. The least I could do was be brave enough to meet all of them.

We had just pulled up to the small, darkwood house when Paul turned to me. I wasn't sure if it was just the knowledge that I knew who was looking at me now, but it seemed as if the particular gazes that Paul sent my way had somehow grown more profound. It wasn't every time he looked at me, just times like this, when there was an overflowing of a specific emotion that I couldn't put a name to.

I tugged at the waistband of his shorts slightly to get my point across, and I was all smiles when he leaned down to press a soft, warm kiss to my lips. Though they were becoming more frequent, the kisses that Paul gave me felt as if they were building on top of one another, creating a constant wall of tension, but I kind I didn't mind one bit. I felt him suck softly at my bottom lip, sinking his teeth into it just slightly before he was pulling away, a grin on his face as he stepped out of the truck.

"No fair," I sighed as I moved to get out, taking his offered hand of help. "You don't get to kiss me like that and make my nerve go cuckoo before I meet new people."

I felt his chuckle as his chest touched my back, slowly coaxing me forward. "Just wanted you to smell like me a bit more," he shrugged, pulling open the screen door and gently nudging me in.

The kitchen interior was a warm, light brown not different to my own house, the cabinets white to match the kitchen table in the middle. Some of the chairs didn't match, and I couldn't help but smile at the idea that it was because more people were here now, more boys to have a place in their favorite home.

I didn't know much about Emily, other than that she had scars along one side of her face from an accident with Sam and that she baked like no other. That information, along with how fondly Paul spoke of her house and the dinners they had there were enough for me to know that I would like the woman. Now, looking up into her warm eyes and even more welcoming smile, I didn't doubt that at all.

"Finally," she laughed, moving forward to wrap careful hands around me. "I was wondering when I'd get a little more estrogen around here."

I laughed, returning the hug just as tightly, feeling the tension leak from my muscles like Emily was a magical stress ball. "The moment Paul said there was a lone woman dealing with these mongrels, I knew I needed to get here as soon as possible."

A few chuckles from the other room had me pulling back, spotting a few of the boys getting up from the couch. Jared led the way, ruffling my hair as he walked by me to take a seat at the table. Then Embry, offering me one of the three cookies in his hand, to which I declined. But as the third person stepped into the kitchen and moved to the table, I nearly gasped.

"Holy shit," I said instead, and the surprise must have been a bit more than I meant to display because Paul was pressing a protective hand against my back. "Jacob, you cut your hair?"

Everyone laughed a little, and Jacob nodded. "Yeah, it's kind of part of the whole uniform."

"Huh," I said, letting Paul lead us to the little bench going across one side of the table. "No shoes, no shirts, no pony tails?"

"We get shaggy if we grow our hair out," Embry explained, running a hand through his own.

"Yeah, that's why if you've seen any fat grey wolves around, it's Embry refusing to cut his Bieber-do," Jared added, and I barely registered the hand coming out to punch Jared in the arm.

"Fuck you," Embry chuckled.

A new voice entered the kitchen. "Hey, now," Sam warned, but his smile was wide as he looked at me.

"Yeah, yeah," Embry grumbled. "Werewolves, not swearwolves."

A surprised laugh bubbled out of me at the joke, Jared rolling his eyes and telling me not to encourage it. It was strange. I had never been bad at making friends, but feeling like part of something had never been my specialty. But at this moment, surrounded by these wolf-beings and a woman I had only just met, it felt like I fit in amongst them perfectly.

"Welcome to the family, Brynn," Sam sighed, setting down a plate full of burgers and a few sides. "You sure you know what you're getting yourself into?"

"Oh, no worries," I replied, smiling. "I'll keep these guys in line no problem."

Emily came to the table with condiments, sitting in the chair next to Sam rather than at the opposite end of the table. Something about the gesture, despite the two of them being the owners of the home, made me see even more just how in love the two of them were. I watched as he pressed tiny kisses up the scarred half of her face, how she giggled into it and waved him away playfully, and I couldn't help but glance at Paul, wondering if we would ever be in their position.

He was already glancing back at me, the right corner of his mouth pulled up in his heart-stopping smirk as he leaned in to press two soft kisses against my temple.

"Okay?" He asked softly, giving me the illusion of privacy in a room filled with people who could hear him just fine.

The smile I gave him was just as genuine as it was big. "Perfect."

The dinner went the only possible way it could have gone: great. Sam revisited the story of Paul's first time phasing, only for all of them to take turns giving examples of the ridiculous things that would send him into a fur-frenzy. He took it all in stride, laughing along and shooting off stories of his own.

"The Last Cupcake was a good one, but don't forget the Movie Schedule Blow Up," he cut in, and it sent everyone into another round of hoots as Embry shot forward to animatedly explain the backstory.

At the end, Emily and I had to practically shove (as much as we could) the guys towards the living room to give us the space to clean. Paul held back just long enough to nuzzle his face into my neck, grabbing my shoving hands in his and kissing my wrists before he was finally letting me push him through the entryway.

"Jesus, Paul," I heard Jacob groan, Embry joining in with him. Together, they sang an ugly harmony of 'cling-eeeeee' before starting in on whip sounds.

Emily chuckled and handed me a plate to dry, shaking her head gently. "It's good seeing him like this, you know," she said, her voice soft compared to the rowdy noise in the other room. "I know it might be hard for you to believe since this is the only version of him you've ever really seen, but for a while there we were all a little worried about him."

"Really?" My eyebrows pinched together, taking a peek into the other room to glance at him now. He was laughing, mouth open wide as he had Jacob in a play-chokehold, Jared pinning Embry while Sam spoke in a referee voice. "Why were you worried?"

"Well," Emily sighed, the unscarred half of her lips twisting as she tried to find the words she wanted to use. "I know the boys all laugh at his anger now, but it was a serious problem before. The first few weeks after he phased, he wouldn't let anyone near him, not even Jared. Then he took to fighting grown men, probably been in the back of police cars more than I can count on both my hands, honestly."

The new information stirred me slightly. It wasn't fear of Paul, or any sort of resentment. It was the fear _for_ him that made me feel a little queasy. The person I knew now wouldn't be proud of the things he had done before, and I didn't have to pick his brain to know that he was harder on himself than he should be. I thought back to his words on the cliff, his promise to someday be good enough for me, and the memory nearly broke my heart.

"I know it's only been a couple days, so just let me know if I'm out of line," Emily continued, handing me a wooden spoon. "But just being around him is so much different now. He's always been respectful and kind to me, don't get me wrong, but." Her face pinched just slightly as she tried to figure out what it was she wanted to say. "He's just welcoming now, laughs harder, smiles bigger. It's like you being brought into his life offered him a touch of peace that he didn't have before."

Once again, I found myself peeking around the corner to the man we were talking about. If they were paying attention to the conversation Emily and I were having, no one was showing any signs of their eavesdropping. They were taking turns trying to toss popcorn and M&Ms into Jacob's mouth, Paul taking it upon himself to be the obstacle course by occasionally shoving the other boy or kicking his legs out towards him. But almost as if he sensed me watching, he glanced towards me, my favorite smile lighting up his face as he did so. He quirked a brow, a silent question of whether or not I was okay, and I nodded.

That was the first time I realized I was falling in love with Paul Lahote.

When the dishes were done and two entire movies played through, the time for Paul's patrol was coming up. The hug Emily I shared was the most comforting embrace I had ever been part of, her whispering for me to come back whenever I wanted to only sealing the deal more. The boys, feeling bold and bubbly, had attempted to each give me hugs as well, but Embry had barely put an arm around my shoulder before Paul was knocking him out of my space.

"She's pack!" Embry had tried to argue, much to Sam's amusement.

"She's _mine_," Paul had shot back, and no one dared to argue with that fact.

Paul turned up the heat once we were in his truck, making sure I was warm against his side before he started to back out. For the life of me, I couldn't stop looking at him. There were no traces of the Paul that Emily had talked about, though it didn't require an active imagination to see how he could have been a mean, vicious fighter at one point. A physique like his paired with the anger that was at a constant boil beneath the surface were both main ingredients to a recipe for disaster, but with his calm breaths and the way that he held me, I couldn't picture it.

"So," he said once we were back on the main road. "What'd you think?"

"I think I'm leaving you for Emily," I teased, giggling at the low, playful growl he let out as he tugged me closer. "Really, though. I love them, and I don't think I've ever seen Jacob so laid back. How is he taking everything?"

Paul glanced from the road to me, his quick little sweep that he did every couple of minutes. "He was fucked up at first, the way we all get. The amount of rage it takes for that first phase to happen doesn't just disappear once you reach it. He and I had a go, and I'm pretty sure Sam had to put him in his place before I got there." He must have noticed my concern, because he pressed a quick, reassuring kiss to the top of my head. "Nothing serious, sometimes that's just what we need to do. But, I think the worst of it came from him being ordered not to say anything to Bella."

"Bella." At her name, I couldn't help the way my eyes narrowed. "She really doesn't deserve that kid. I mean, even if she wasn't cozying up next to the exact thing you guys try to protect people from, she just doesn't treat him right. That kid is ready to take a bullet for her, and she just doesn't care about anything but feeling better."

"Getting jealous over here, listening to you defend Jake's honor like that," he teased. "You're right, though. But no matter how many times we try to tell him that, he just lashes out. Keeps saying that she's just not ready because that's always what she tells him. Honestly, we've kind of given up on trying at this point. He's already said he doesn't care how he ends up in all of this, he just wants to be in her life."

My stomach plummeted for a moment as we pulled into my driveway, knowing that those words sounded too close to something else. "He didn't imprint on her, did he?"

"Hasn't had the chance to yet." Paul pulled the keys from the ignition, stepping out and helping me down. "That doesn't mean he isn't hopeful, though. She keeps calling, leaving him messages and talking about how she hopes he recovers from mono real soon. Poor kid is looking forward to the day he gets a pass from Sam, he's so desperate just to have this one thing."

I played over the scenario in my head as I unlocked the front door. Bella, taking up one of the mismatched chairs in Emily's kitchen and laughing along with us as the pack told horror stories of one another. It was so hard to picture that the image was blurry, distorted as if the idea just didn't make any sense. And really, whether it was my place to say or not, it _didn't_. Paul had told me that Bella was known as the 'vampire girl', and that name just didn't fit in around here.

"I can smell how awful that idea is to you," Paul chuckled, pushing in behind me as the door came open. "Now I'm wondering if my jealousy is a joke or not."

"Oh, shut up," I groaned, toeing out of my shoes and shoving him backwards. "If you're feeling threatened by anyone, especially Jacob Black, you have no idea how into you I am."

I should've known the words would get me in trouble, but maybe that's why I said them. Paul was suddenly in front of me, crowding me up against the wall with that painfully attractive smirk on his face. I tried to hold an indifferent expression, even as his lips brushed down my neck to the place he was growing achingly familiar with.

"Don't think I do now," he whispered, and his voice was husky, right up against my ear and sending gooseflesh down my body. "How into me are you, Price?"

That was when her reserve broke as she fell victim to his voice once again. She couldn't help it, and she knew that he was well aware of that as he chuckled darkly against her throat, lips parting against her flesh as he claimed the spot on her neck. Her hands slid up his back and beneath his shirt, nails just lightly digging into his skin as his teeth scraped against her neck, solidifying the mark but soothing it with his tongue.

"Careful," Paul warned, voice somehow even deeper than it had been before, and God if that didn't want Brynn to press even harder, push his buttons the same way he so easily pushed hers.

A soft buzzing between the two of them had the spell breaking, Brynn coming to her senses enough to reach for the phone in her back pocket. She grabbed Paul's hand instead, already going after the device, and sending warmth shooting up her back from where his hand slid up her thigh, into her back pocket, and back down again. He handed it to her with a smirk, his hand coming up around her throat just long enough for him to scrape his thumb over the tender bruise on her neck and send her heart racing, before he was dropping it back down again.

"Kinky," he said, and Brynn could've kicked him the ear because of course he would catch on to how her heart raced when his hand was around her throat.

Paul headed for the stairs, and Brynn took that moment to collect her bearings as much as humanly possible when she knew he was still only a minute away. She checked her phone, smiling at the two messages. The first was from Kim, demanding details about the previous day and how her date with Paul went. The second was from Emily, asking her to join them at the bonfire the upcoming Friday because she knew Paul would forget to tell her until the day of.

Pressing the call button, she listened to the two rings before Kim answered. "You're evil, did you know that? What part of 'vicariously living through you' did you not understand?"

"Sorry, we were getting busy," Brynn joked, and she couldn't hold back a laugh at the sharp gasp Kim responded with. "I'm kidding! It was really, really great though. He took me to the cliffs and had a cute little snack picnic set up and we just talked for hours before getting lunch at River's Edge."

"Paul Lahote set up a picnic for you? Brynn, do you even realize how many women would kill you for living that?" Kim was louder than usual, probably feeling more comfortable on the phone than she did around her peers. I glanced at the stairs as I made my way into the kitchen, just to see if Paul was listening in. "What happened next? Don't leave out anything."

"Well," I started, dragging it out a little just to hear her impatient sounds. "We went to the beach for a bit. You should see him run after seagulls, Kim, it's like a Great Dane chasing a field mouse," I laughed, grabbing a water from the fridge before making my way upstairs. "Then we came back to my house and…"

Another gasp. "You didn't!"

"No, I'm messing with you. He just held me while we slept, watched That 70's Show, and that's it really." I knew I was saying the words like they were no big deal, but that was also because I had the main character of the conversation smirking at me from my bed as I entered the bedroom.

"You are the worst at giving details, and that's completely fine. Just know that tomorrow, I'm expecting to hear every little thing. He held you while you slept? C'mon, Brynn, you were supposed to describe your first kiss, if he looked at you like you were the last woman on earth, if you held hands!"

I watched as Paul checked invisible boxes as she listed things off.

"Here's a dirty detail, Kim," I sighed, putting the phone on speaker and turning towards my dresser to grab out something to wear to bed. "He's actually here right now." I felt something hit the back of my head, turning to see a now shirtless Paul pointing at the shirt he had thrown to me. "And he's shirtless," I added, just to keep things interesting.

"You're kidding!" Kim gushed. "Why are you on the phone with me right now? Amaze him, go forth and conquer! I'll talk to you at school tomorrow, about everything. Bye!"

I didn't even have a chance to respond before the line was dead, leaving me to frown at my phone as I shimmied out of my jeans. I purposely kept my eyes on the device as I felt Paul watching me, making sure to turn my back to him so he couldn't see me blush as I removed my sweater. I wasn't a shy person when it came to my body; I was an athlete and naturally tan, so there were already two boxes ticked off of society's beauty standards. But regardless of that fact, Paul just had a good way of making me feel flustered over every little thing that I did.

"Are you hiding from me or being modest?" Paul chuckled, but I knew that the roughness to it meant he was enjoying it all.

"There's a man in my bed and the closest bathroom is downstairs," was my response, even as I unhooked my bralette. I was quick to slip into his shirt after that, deciding that the show wasn't committing enough to be worth the red in my cheeks.

Normally I had an entire bed time routine, but the second I hit the mattress beside Paul, I knew there was no chance of getting back up. I curled into his warmth, butterflies rising in my tummy as his hand slid up my thigh and beneath my shirt to gently rub at the middle of my back, efficiently coaxing me into a deeper relaxation. I dreaded waking up tomorrow with a cool sheet against my face, knowing that he would have to leave for patrol the moment I was asleep. Last night, waking up without him but his voice coming from down the stairs hadn't been horrible. But waking up without any trace of him? It was pathetic, but I cringed away from the idea.

"Don't want you to go," I mumbled, already half asleep as I pressed random kisses against his chest.

"Trust me," he mumbled, the vibrations from his voice lulling me that much further. "I don't want to leave."

"So, how good of a kisser is he?" Kim asked, being entirely juvenile and wearing a grin that said she couldn't care less about it. "One being the worst kiss of your life, but he's sexy so you'll put up with it. Ten being hands down, never want to kiss anyone again, greatest thing of your life."

Nonchalantly, I checked both ends of the crowded halls, looking for any of the boys as well as I could in a mass of tan skin and dark hair. When I thought the search was good enough, I turned back to Kim, trying to keep my grin at least a little small.

"Kim, not even your ten can describe it," I told her, letting my head fall back against the locker dramatically. It had been the wrong decision, the turtleneck sweater I wore pulling down just enough to earn a poke at the hickey from Kim.

"You little minx!" She jeered, someone even more amped up as we made our way to the cafeteria.

I wasn't sure how she did it, but Kim had managed to find me before lunch had even been started, on the opposite end of the school building, just to press for details. I wasn't too experienced with girl talk, never truly sticking around long enough to need to learn it, so whenever one of my answers fell short, Kim was right there to press in with more questions. I was honestly happy for the communication, both Jacob and Embry having missed class so that Embry could take over for Paul so he could be in school, and Jacob still wasn't able to come to classes yet so he ran patrol whilst Embry slept, and Paul hadn't found me wandering the halls yet.

We made our way over to the pack's empty table, not even thinking twice about it. Kim was so caught up in my retellings that she hadn't even had time to become a mess over the fact that Jared would be at school today. She was just in the middle of whispering questions to me about Paul and I's time on the beach when I felt a gentle tap to my shoulder.

"Uh, hey, Brynn," a voice said. Turning, I saw the boy who sat in front of me in my math class, his hair cut short to his ears as his hand slid through it, almost looking nervous.

"Hey?" I said it like a question, partially because I didn't understand the reasoning behind the greeting, and partially because I couldn't, no matter how hard I wracked my brain, remember this kid's name.

"So, I know that you're new to La Push and everything, and a couple of the guys and I were planning on throwing a party sometime. I was just wondering if maybe you'd want to come with me and..." he started, using his hands as he spoke and making sure to keep his eyes on me.

There was a warmth over my shoulder before Paul was leaning over me, pressing his lips to mine in a greeting that was definitely not school appropriate. Accidentally, and I swear I mean that, I completely forgot about the boy talking to me, my mind hyper focused on the way Paul's lips pressed against mine and the heat of his hand as it pressed into my thigh, holding his body weight up just slightly.

He pulled away far too soon, my mind still spinning as I tried to grasp on to every little piece of reality that I could. I could hear the chatter of students, the small gasp that came from Kim, but other than that I could only really focus on Paul as he stood up to his full height, pushing his shoulders back in a display of raw, unconcealed intimidation as he looked at the boy on the other side of my chair

"She's not interested," Paul stated, and I should've been able to hold it together enough to scold him for being impolite, but that _voice_.

The kid was smart enough to know when a battle was lost. "Yeah, no problem, Paul. Didn't mean to step on any toes," he was saying as he packed up, nodding too quick for him to look like this was just a casual misunderstanding.

"That means fuck off," Paul added. The poor kid hightailed it back to his table, and Paul didn't stop watching him the entire time.

"Kid's got balls," Jared said, taking a seat across from Kim and shoveling mashed potatoes into his mouth. "Pretty sure everyone's been talking about you two, there's no way he didn't know."

"Yeah, some balls," Paul scoffed, finally sitting in his seat but not before pulling it as close to mine as it could get. He looked at me like I offended him. "What, I can't trust you alone for two seconds without having to worry about someone dragging you away?"

"Don't be dramatic," I laughed, leaning forward and pressing two quick kisses against his cheek before turning to get my lunch out. I was distinctly aware of eyes on me, and I turned to see Kim's wide eyes looking at me and then subtly turning to the direction of Jared.

"Oh, Jared," I crooned, a devious smile on my face as I turned away from Kim's mortified face to the man elbow-deep in his styrofoam bowl of chicken noodle soup. "Have you met my friend, Kim?"

The scene played out before me in slow motion: Jared lifted his eyes up to Kim, who was slowly turning to face him, face already pink as she did so. I didn't notice when their eyes met, but I could tell what had happened the second I saw the expression on Jared's face go from bored to intense in mere seconds.

"Oh, shit," I whispered, making Paul's eyes snap up from where he had been trying to open all my containers for me to me, and then following my line of sight to everything playing out before us.

"'Oh, shit' indeed, baby," Paul exhaled, amused and surprise coloring his voice. "You really are bringing all sorts of trouble, aren't you?"

**AN: Surprise, we're taking a break from intensity and instead rocking into plain and simple fluff. With a little bit of heat. And gossip. Okay, so this might have been just a little bit of a filler chapter, but I needed to show you the growing bond between Brynn and the wolves! Don't they make such a cute, dysfunction, slightly fucked up family? Love them to death. Let me know how you're liking things, because I'm seeing too many views to be getting so few reviews, you feel me? You know who you are! Like always, review, review, review! **


	12. Give

**GIVE**

_Paul_

Brynn's lips were pliant under mine, always so easy and open for anything that I wanted, and I didn't waste the chance to slide my tongue along her's, savoring the very taste of her. I could smell what it did to her, sweet and _her_ hanging in the air and I just couldn't stop taking lungfull after lungful. When I unknowingly rolled my hips into hers, I could've so easily been made undone just at the reaction it had from her: thighs spreading further to allow more of _me_ in the space, my name rolling from her parted lips in a way that had heat flooding my stomach, twisting it deep inside of me.

"Baby," I groaned as her lips came to my throat this time, eyes shutting almost instantly as I focused on what her satiny lips did to me, the way she dragged her fingernails up my sides in a blatant display of breaking the caution I had given her just a less than a month before. "You really want to play this game right now? You know you'll regret it."

"Hm," I felt her giggle against my throat, my wolf basking in the scent of her that we knew would linger now. "I think I'm enjoying it just fine, baby."

Somehow, the pet-name she called me only served to wind me up more, a low growl coming from my throat as I pushed her back onto her mattress. She went easily, eyes bright and hungry for whatever I would give her, proving to me that this wasn't a teasing game she was playing: she was trying to push me past my breaking point, and was hoping I'd take her down with me.

I could barely get the next words out, hating myself for saying them. "You know I have patrol." I hummed the words against her chest, pulling at the collar of my shirt she wore to lengthen the trail I was working on.

It was a Friday night, two weeks before the beginning of our spring break, and just so happened to fall on the first night in a week that I wouldn't be able to stay holed up in Brynn's room with her all all the time we had been spending together between school, her house, Emily's house, and just going out, I had noticed her growing more and more greedy with her time with me, clinging on to some part of me whenever we were close enough for her to do so, and even occasionally shooting glowering looks towards girls that occasionally glanced in my direction. Obviously I didn't mind, both man and wolf more than pleased by the possessive side of Brynn slowly growing into something a little more comfortable with itself.

With all this information, there was no doubt in my mind that I was in for some sort of meticulous torture tonight. Along with her possessiveness, Brynn's daring side had taken leaps and bounds out of hope of keeping me with her when I had to go. I knew to suspect she had some plan in that devious head of hers when she came upstairs fresh from her shower, barely sparing me a glance over her shoulder as she dropped the towel that was tied around her body, already smelling of determination and want.

For _me_.

I played the good-guy boyfriend, sitting at the edge of her bed with my hands clenched together in an attempt to keep myself where I was, but that didn't mean I wasted the chance to take her in. Long tanned limbs paired with the perfect curves, leaving me with the overwhelming urge to get my hands on her, to hold her still while I ran my tongue over every single inch of her. I knew she was well aware of what she was doing when, for the first time, she angled her body to the side on the pretense to be watching the show, giving me the profile of her body and _fuck_, if that didn't make me want to touch her _more_.

It was how we led to where we are now, my shirt bunched up around her waist where her thighs wrapped around the small of my back, occasionally digging her heels in just to press me that much closer. It was fucking intoxicating, feeling the warmth of her every time my hips ground into hers, nothing more than a thing pair of black panties and my shorts keeping me from having her completely, and not being able to do fuck all about it.

There were only two things holding me back now, and with every sound Brynn let slip my hold on those two things grew more and more loose. James might have skipped over the 'I'll Shoot You' talk, but that didn't mean he found a way to ensure I didn't touch Brynn whenever he was home. It had come about after seeing a carelessly placed love bite beneath her jaw, something I had taken to doing 'accidentally' ever since I caught on the more people were becoming more and more infatuated with my imprint at school. James warning did little to me, I had already let the words go in one ear and out the other, never one for caring much about rules, but then he was threatening me with chaperoned visits only if he ever had the slightest inkling of something going on.

The bastard knew exactly how to play his cards.

The second was my responsibility to the pack, knowing that Jacob was out on patrol and I wouldn't hear the end of it if I was more than ten minutes late. Besides, I knew well enough how my girl's brain worked to know that as much as she wanted me to stay, she wouldn't let me live it down if I failed on a duty to the pack. Slowly but surely Brynn had been accepting her role in the pack and to our people, no longer seeing herself as much of an outsider anymore. Once, she had even called the reservation her land. Besides, a quick fuck before I had to take off on her wasn't at all what I had planned for getting all of her for the first time.

"You're impossible," she sighed now, pushing her hands against my shoulders lightly to bring my attention back to her face. "What other eighteen year old boy do you know would have me like this and not just-"

"None," I growled possessively, taking out the very idea of anyone else ever seeing her like this and basking in the way the scent of her arousal just became stronger with the words. My hand slid from the abused collar of the shirt to her throat, turning her face to the side to get a clear view of the handiwork I had worsened in the past hour. "What's this mean, baby?"

"I'm yours," she said, voice soft and light and so painstakingly submissive that my mind short-circuited for half a second.

"Mhm," I practically purred, leaning down to press a kiss to her lips that had her trying to chase mine for more when I pulled away. The hand around her throat moved down slowly, the predator-instinct in me only getting hungrier by the way her heartbeat had picked up. "This is all mine, too."

"Paul," she whimpered, so desperate and hopeful as I slid my middle finger across her clit through the thin piece of fabric. I watched her entire body tremble from the pressure I applied, drinking her up greedily as her back began to arch just slightly.

Then that was it. I took my hand away and stood, an asshole smirk on my face as I looked back down at her while adjusting the front of my shorts. She was affronted, completely unsuspecting of just how cruel I could be, and I couldn't resist leaning down to kiss her surprise-parted lips too quick for her to even catch up with. Really, it served her right, getting a taste of her own medicine.

At least that's what I thought, until I saw her fingers disappearing into the waistband of black silk, and just before I decided to say fuck patrol, fuck romance, and fuck James' sleeping ass downstairs, she was giggling and pulling her hand away.

"You're so easy to rile up," Brynn teased, not unlike what she had been doing all night.

I huffed a laugh. "Me?" I asked, slowly stalking towards her bed once again and earning the prize of her heart rate picking up yet again. "I can hear how quick your heart beats every time you like something I do, Price," I said, my voice low in the way I knew made her stomach twist. "I can smell how wet you are right now."

"That isn't fair," she breathed, a flush in her face even as her head tilted back to accept the kiss I pressed against her lips. "It's past midnight," she added, the words coming off her lips in a brush against my own.

"Fuck," I sighed, backing up again and grabbing her phone to check the time: 12:13. Yeah, Jacob would be pissed. "I gotta go, baby."

There it was again: that little hiccup in her heart that told me she liked something I was doing. I don't know when I had taken to pet-names, but at some point they had started to spill out of my mouth, completely on their own accord.

Brynn stood on her bed, draping her arms over my shoulders and kissing an unsymmetrical trail across my face, a new nightly routine she had taken to. I let her, not even trying to hide my smile as her lips finally found mine, accepting the two quick pecks just as eagerly as I returned the last, lingering one.

"Go on," she sighed, a pout on her lip that I couldn't help but to kiss. "Kill vampires, save lives. I'll sit here and mope."

"You'll be past out before I even get out the door," I chuckled, bringing her back into my arms and pressing a kiss to her hairline, inhaling that lilac scent deeply as I did so.

When I finally phased, Jacob was on my case in mere seconds.

_Do you know what the word 'schedule' means, or do you think the sun shines out of your ass enough to not have rules apply to you?_ He snapped, and my good mood was so loud that I couldn't do much but chuckle at him. _I hate imprinting. If I had said that shit to you before, you would've knocked me on my ass. _

_Could still knock you on your ass, _I reassured. _Just have to ask real nice. _

_Fuck off, Lahote. It's all clear for me, by the way. Jared said the same. Brynn good?_

At her name, I couldn't help but think of the way she said my name just minutes ago, the way her body had wrapped itself around me as tight as she could to keep me close. I could almost feel the way her breath felt on my neck.

_Great, glad she's doing okay. On that note, I'm going to bed. _

_Sweet dreams, Jakeybear. _

The disconnection of him phasing out was my only response, and I huffed a loud sigh as I began my rounds.

Ever since Brynn's father had told me about the truth behind her chaotic childhood, I had doubled down on my runs as much as possible, pushing myself to the point of near-exhaustion just to ensure I didn't ever miss anything. When I had told the pack, they were a mess of snarling teeth and blurry limbs, the anger from their brother as well as a threat on their pack sister getting each and every one of them worked up.

Sam had gripped my shoulder, a silent promise in his eyes as he looked at me: _No one's going to touch her. We're going to take this bastard down._

I hadn't asked and if Sam held a meeting, I wasn't aware of it, but I had noticed the paths we took were far more worn down than before, the smell of my brother's lingering outside her home far more pungent than it had been before. Like me, they had taken to overdoing it on their rounds, taking every precaution they could in making sure that my imprint was safe.

And fuck if that didn't mean more to me than anything else in this world.

Search as I might, the sun was creeping over the trees as my patrol started coming to an end, the birds chirping irritatingly in alarm as they felt the breeze I kicked up while running. I was just my way past Sam and Emily's place when my chest suddenly felt as if it were caving in, the breath being ripped out of my lungs and sending me stumbling to a halt. Whines clawed through my throat as pain shot through my chest, my body sinking to the ground with the pain as I tried to breathe through it, trying to get it to pass.

On a loop in my mind was _Brynn, Brynn, Brynn, Brynn_. I wasn't aware of how I knew, but I could tell this was coming from her, that this was the imprint showing me what _she_ was going through right now.

I was so caught up in the pain that I hadn't noticed Sam and Emily's approach until he was speaking.

"Paul, what happened?" He asked, already stripping out of his shorts and turning to Emily. "Go inside, get James Price on the phone, please. Brynn's in trouble."

Embry phased in at the same time as Sam landed on four black paws, instant voices in my head. Sam cocked his head back in a low, calling howl before his head was rubbing against my side, gently coaxing me to my feet.

_She's hurting, Sam,_ I groaned, clenching my eyes as if I could somehow access her emotions the way I could with my brothers.

_Um, guys?_ Embry said, and I could tell by the tone of his voice that he was more than a little worried about what he had to say. _Brynn isn't at her house. _

My some miracle managed by sheer worry alone, I launched off into a sprint towards the Price house, not quite breathing through the pain shooting through my chest, but managing enough air to keep going. I passed Embry, still sniffing around the home for any signs of a creature, following the scent of pure despair mixed with the lilac that I loved so much.

_Jared, Jacob, take the southern end of the reservation, _Sam ordered, and I had been so caught up in Brynn that I hadn't even registered the other two were with us now.

The trail was long and winding, but entirely Brynn's alone. There weren't any traces of something other, something fgoreign, even when I stopped to double check the trees she had stopped at or the prints she left in the damp grass. The worry still ate me up inside, still was the only thing driving me forward as another, more intense shock of pain ricketed throughout my entire body this time. A whine peeled from my lips, my wolf concerned about our mate being in so much pain and going through it _alone_.

The man began hypothesizing. What if there had been a way for Adrian to leave a note behind? Maybe he had gotten someone to write it for him, someone to plant it to lure Brynn from her house? But that didn't explain the intensity of her emotions, how hurt and angry and _sad_ she was.

_We'll find her, Paul, _Jared promised, but even as he said the words I could pick into his head enough to notice the relief that this wasn't Kim, that she was safe in her home, sleeping with her phone pressed to her cheek from when Jared and her talked all night.

I could feel someone disconnect, but I was too distracted by the trail that I was following to realize who it was before a human Sam was shouting out my name, somewhere close by. I turned on the trail, something my entire body seemed to urge me not to do, and raced in the direction of my Alpha's voice.

_Please, please, please,_ I begged, so hopelessly hopeful that everything was fine, that she maybe had a bad dream, had gone on a run to clear her mind and happened to get lost.

The path I took became familiar the longer I ran on it, only leading me to be more and more concerned. It was the road Kala Baker had lived on, her little house at the end of the road, shielded by trees and spaced out farther than the rest. What if he brought her here to kill her? What if she was already gone, and Sam phased to call me so I couldn't see his thoughts?

That's when I saw them; Sam, standing tall with the smallest bundle in his arms. For a minute I froze in my tracks, dread slicing through me like razor barbed wires and daggers, completely freezing me in my tracks. But then Sam towards me, showed me the long pulls of air that Brynn was trying to pull into her throat, and I was suddenly running at them on two legs.

"Baby, Brynn?" I called, slipping my arms between Sam's to pull her against me, falling into the grass and taking the sitting position to pull her even closer. "What the hell are you doing out here, baby? Hey, you're okay, it's okay," I crooned, trying to balance the still staggering hurt flowing from our bond with the profound relief that I felt to have her in my arms and breathing.

One arm stayed locked around her back, keeping her supported against my chest while the other ran over her body, my nose pulling in air to try and catch the metallic scent of blood, to try to locate any possible injuries at all. There were holes in the knees of her joggers, dirt all over them as if she had fallen at some point. Her hands were dirty as well, though the scrapes in her palms were little more than peeling skin.

"C'mon, Price," I urged, desperate to get her voice to come out, to hear her speak anything at all. "Talk to me, baby. What happened?"

I could hear the others stepping in close behind us in silent support, but giving us enough space to allow us any sort of privacy. I would thank them all later, over and over again until they couldn't stand it anymore. Sam especially.

"He lied," Brynn said, and fuck if her voice didn't sound like the weakest, softest thing I had ever heard. I was about to ask what she meant when the meaning came to me instantly: where we were, the pain I had felt go through her, the blatant betrayal.

She knew.

"Fuck," I breathed, my arms wrapping even tighter around her as I pressed kiss after kiss into her hair.

I felt her body still in mine, felt her breaths even out in such a way that had another spike of worry curling into my chest. My hand found her cheek, coaxing her to look at me, and just the look in her eyes alone was enough to break my heart. There wasn't an ounce of anything in those eyes that I had grown to love so much, no mischief, no humor, no light at all.

She looked empty.

"Tell me what you need, Brynn," I pleaded, my voice sounding off even to my own ears. I heard an uneasy step behind me, a whine from Embry, still in his wolf form as protection.

"Sam," Bryn spoke again, her voice sounding just as empty as her eyes looked. "Will you take me home?"

Confusion pulled my eyebrows down, but I didn't object to her arms pushing her body out of my hold. Sam was there to help her up, and a sharp growl left me at the sight as I stood as well.

"Don't!" Brynn spat, jerking her arm out of Sam's grasp to turn and look at me. Her eyes held emotion now, but the look of pure, unadulterated rage was staring me down. "You knew!" She shouted, tiny fists coming up to shove me back a step. I let her push me, took steps back with every shove she gave me. "You listened to me talk about my mom! I told you the lies that have been shoved down my throat for my entire life, and you said nothing!"

"Brynn, I didn't-" I had started to say, my jaw working to find words that would make sense to what I had done. "I thought you should hear from-"

"From who?" My imprint yelled, taking steps away from me and only putting her hands up again when I tried to walk towards her. "The man who lied to me all these years? She was my _mother_, Paul. I may not have known her but she was _my mother._" Her head shook, hot and angry tears slipping down her face as she looked away from me. "You were lucky, you know? At least you got to see it, at least there was never a chance of you not knowing the truth about her."

For the first time in my life, I didn't know what to fucking do. I may never have a plan, but finding the right steps to take, or even the wrong ones, had always been something I managed to do just fine. But now, looking at the face of the one person who meant more to me than anything else in this sick life, listen to her shout and scream and be angry _because of me_, I didn't know the first step to take. It felt like my heart had stopped in my chest, like the anger that fueled her now had somehow shut me down entirely.

"Do me a favor," Brynn said, her voice watery as her eyes looked at me again. The rage that had been there before was still alive, but now it was paired with the same emotions she had felt earlier about her father, but this time the hurt and betrayal were aimed at me. "Just stay away from me."

She took off down the road then, not once glancing back at me as I stood there, blinking dazedly at the place she had been standing in before. In my peripheral I saw Sam hesitate before he jogged after her, giving me the small sense of peace that she would at least get home safely. Without me.

Without _me_.

My knees began giving out and I felt arms- Jared, most likely- reach out to ease me on to the ground, he and Jacob both talking in hushed reassurances, trying to convince me that she was just upset, that things would go back to normal before I even had time to miss her.

It was complete bullshit. I missed her _now_. I wanted her to need me, to have her wrapped up around me as I comforted her, promised her that everything was going to be just fine. My hands shook at the realization that I couldn't do that, wouldn't be able to because she didn't want to see me. It felt like shears had been taken to every nerve inside my body. I felt the way Brynn had looked at me, the way her eyes had been void of anything at all. Emptiness was the closest to the word, but I didn't think it fit right when my heart was stuttering like it was on its last leg without her there.

"Hey, man," Jared soothed, rubbing a hand over my shoulder. "It's going to be alright. She just needs-"

"Get the fuck away from me," I muttered, the tremors in my hand sliding up to capture the entirety of my arms.

It was a warning they knew to take seriously, and I could hear each of them step back to give me space to phase. And when I did, the pain in my chest felt like it was rocketing through my entire body, like this specific phase was the slowest one I had ever been through. Being the wolf was worse, it turned out, because the imprint affected him more than it did me, and that was saying a hell of a lot. A snarl came out as I took a slow, painful step into the treeline, heading in the opposite direction that Brynn had gone in.

_She needs us_, the wolf seemed to demand, and the two of us fought for the control of my body.

In the end, we were heading in the direction of nowhere and nothing, the ache in my heart seeming to grow and multiply with each bound I took. I didn't stop once, running until it felt like it was all I could do, until there was no give left for the wolf to grapple on to, until the distance between Brynn and I wasn't just towns, but countries borders apart. Her words echoed in my mind on some disgusting and cruel loop, eating at my very being with each round they made.

_Just stay away from me. _

If it was all she wanted from me, the very last thing I could give her, I would do it. I'd made sure she didn't see me, ensure that there was never an accidental run-in at Emily's or the supermarket. I wouldn't stay in Canada forever, not when I knew her life was already so endangered, but I could make her feel as if I was obeying her wishes.

If it was the last thing I ever gave her, I would do it right.

**AN: Yeah, so. I'm sad. No offense, but what the hell, Brynn? I don't know about you guys, but I probably wouldn't dive head-first into family drama on a first date by revealing that everything you thought you knew about your mother was a lie, but that could just be me and Paul. What do you guys think of what's going on? Are we feeling like Brynn is taking this a bit too far, or do we understand where she's coming from? And woah, that hot and steamy in the beginning? I'm sweating over here! Tell me all your thoughts when you review, review, review! **


	13. Kill

**KILL**

_Brynn_

I sat in the bathtub, the hot water of the shower running down my body as the day's events of nearly a week ago continued to rock through me.

I had woken up that morning to not only an empty bed, but a daunting feeling. The sun hadn't fully risen yet, a telltale sign that I still had a couple of hours of sleep to catch up on, but I just couldn't. My sleep had started out good, until it simply wasn't anymore. From the looks of the sheets, I had kicked and thrashed until I woke myself up.

I had hoped that showering and getting ready for the day earlier would soothe that uneasy feeling in my stomach, but nothing could have gotten me to where I needed to be in order to listen to my father speak. When he had asked to sit down with him, I hadn't thought much of it, figured he wanted to get an episode of Supernatural in before he had to leave to go help out with tribal business, or whatever he got up to these days. We hadn't had much time together, what with me being with Paul the past two days, and I figured he had just missed me.

Now, staring at where the water tunneled down the drain, I wished more than anything that he could have just missed me.

"Brynn, your mother's death didn't happen the way you think that it did," he had said, and the rest sounded like a loud siren, a constant scream that wouldn't shut up no matter how many times I begged him to stop talking, to tell me he was lying, to promise me it wasn't true.

My mother's death had always been something that hurt, but now it ached like a bullet wound that had healed over just to get peeled open again. I knew my mother was smart, my father had told me enough times that she was, but I would take the idea of her accidentally burning herself alive along with our home over her being viciously attacked and trying to sacrifice herself in order to take out her attacker, too.

And it didn't even _work_.

The hurt, the anger, and the utter betrayal that ripped itself through my entire body like a sick and twisted stitch was wearing me down to nothing. Every thought I had seemed to coax it along even more, across my ribcage, out of my stomach, and deep into my heart. I was being swallowed alive by all of it.

So I ran.

I ran until it felt like I couldn't anymore, until my legs were shaking and I was completely heaving for any chance of fresh air. There was no chance of escaping the reality that I had just been told, but that didn't keep me from trying to leave it as far behind me as it would go. My eyes burned, the memories of the conversation playing on loop over and over again in my head on a record that just wouldn't break, no matter how many times I tried to scream at it to.

"Make it stop," I had whispered to myself, hunched over in the trees just off the trail. "Please, please, please." I knew I was crying, knew that maybe I even looked weak for it, but I also knew that I couldn't find whatever spine had been carrying me before to pick me up now.

Whatever strength I had to hold myself up with left me as my knees hit the forest floor, sobs dragging themselves from my throat, hellbent on being let loose. It wasn't the creature hunting me now, and it wasn't the way it had happened to her. What I couldn't get out of my mind was my father, raising me in awareness of these supernatural creatures that so badly hurt my family and wanted to hurt me, and had never even told me the truth about what they did to her. He sat there time and time again, listening to me cry over not having her, listening to me beg for a woman I didn't even know, and hadn't even told me the truth.

The Pack found me around then, and those memories were just a new wave of nausea that had me forehead pressing into my knees, my eyes clenched shut like I could somehow erase the memory of Paul's swear, the only hint I needed to provide me with the fact that he knew. He knew when I told him about her on the cliff, knew when he gave me his own story of his mother right after, knew when I talked about her in the photos of her that I showed him the first time he was in my room.

All that time he knew, and he never said a thing to me.

The knock at the door was unexpected, but I didn't have it in my to even startle at the sound. I hated the swell of hope that rose up in me, that insistent tightening around my heart, of it being Paul on the other side. I crushed it down though it felt more like punching myself in the gut, digging my nails into my calves against the sensation. I could get through one day without him. Just one day.

At least that's what I keep telling myself.

"Rinny?" My dad's voice asked through the wood, using my childhood nickname like it would be some bulletproof vest. "Rin, you okay in there?"

I hadn't spoken more than three words to him since that day. I tried to make sure I didn't run into him before leaving for school, I tried to keep our eating schedules different. On the rare occasion he caught me as he finished cooking, we would sit at the table in near silence. He would ask a question, I would hum my response, and that was it. The desire to say nothing now, to give no indication that I was fine was strong, and I almost didn't. Moments of silence went by, the tension in the air growing thicker with the worry my father was throwing off in waves, before I sighed and cut off the water.

"I'm…" My mind went blank. What was I supposed to say? I'm fine? I'm okay? They sounded so far from the truth that it was almost comical. "I'm alive."

"Listen, Rin," he started, but I had already leaned forward to blast the water again, sinking back in the tub to let the drops pelt my face and my ears, drowning out any other sound but my breathing.

School had been almost the same stunned silence from me. I would chat with Kim, because the poor girl had no idea of what was going on yet, Jared still not having gathered the balls to break the news to her, and I almost envied that innocence. Paul hadn't showed up once, and though I knew there was no chance of Sam agreeing to this, I never asked Jared, Jacob, or Embry what was going on. The conversation between the Pack and I had plummeted to an all time low.

I made it to my room without any run-ins with the man, plaiting my hair and changing into leggings and a tight, long sleeved shirt. He tried to talk to me on my way to the backyard, but I didn't even falter in my stride through the doors, shutting them a little more forcefully than the weight of the door called for. On instinct, I looked to the treeline around me, searching for any signs of silver fur or dark eyes peering at me, before I shook my head.

It didn't matter if he was there or not.

The shed in our backyard was unlike the usual toolshed; where boxes of unorganized tools should be sat cleaned and immaculate daggers, where bikes would be were bows of every size and sort, and where stray objects would be were protective leather gloves, blade sharpeners, and swords hung delicately along the walls. It was the way our sheds, and occasionally spare bedrooms, looked ever since I could remember, an arsenal deemed necessary by my dad for a threat I hadn't been aware of before. But I was now, and I made sure to grab one of everything I could grab after my hands had been shoved into tight, black leather.

The targets on the trees were faded from rain and weeks of time going by, but I didn't bother with repainting them. Instead, I aimed at tiny dents in the trees, knots in the trunks, or any miniscule detail I could find. I started with daggers, throwing them to the left, to the right, in a spin, after a roll. Each time they hit their mark, dead center, and it fueled me to go harder. Once I ran out of them, I picked up the sword, wiping it in a flammable concoction we kept on stock before lighting a match to the blade. It erupted into flame and I wasted no time in swinging it. There was a mannequin that my dad had retrieved from a yard sale, and after making me promise to never use flame on it, it had become my favorite precision target. Now, I hacked the arms off of the damned thing and watched the plastic melt where my blade touched it.

If he could lie, then so could I.

I swung and stabbed until I couldn't any more, until the sounds leaving me weren't shouts of power but cries of the lost. The mannequin was in bits on the ground, face melted where it's peel-painted eye looked skyward. The sight only made me cry harder.

My grief was cut short as I heard footsteps behind me, and I didn't hesitate to throw my entire body into a spin, my blade directly pointed to the throat of…

"Woah, okay! Okay!" Jacob shouted, eyes wide in alarm as his hands went up. "Let's put down the sword of fire, yeah?"

Briefly, I thought about ignoring him completely, turning around and going back to what I was doing. But the fact that it was _Jacob_ had me too surprised and curious to ignore it. I lowered the sword, moving to turn the spigot on and run the rushing water over the blade to put out the fire. I wrapped it up in a cloth to begin soaking up the moisture, setting it against the house as I turned to face the boy again.

"What do you want?" I asked, taking a seat on the concrete in front of the doors leading into my kitchen. I decided keeping my eyes off of him was for the best; the dark skin, hair, and eyes were so different from Paul's, but close enough to send a shock of longing through me.

"Advice, actually," Jacob sighed, taking a seat beside me. The warmth radiating off of him was a whole new pang.

"Advice?" I scoffed, laughing without humor as I shook my head. "Did you decide my plate wasn't full enough already?"

"Nah," Jake reassured, scuffling a bare foot through the grass. "Just figured hearing about someone else's shit might make you forget about your own for a second."

I mulled the idea over for a second, picking a blade of grass to drag my nail through before shrugging. "Guess it can't hurt to try."

"Bella came to see me yesterday," he started, and I couldn't resist the bubble of laughter that left my mouth. He stared at me, shocked, before continuing. "I pretty much told her to never come back."

"I'm impressed," I admitted, pulling another piece of grass. "Figured you would've collapsed to your knees and kissed her leech-loving feet."

I felt the tension grow after my words left my mouth, my eyes trained on the tree in front of me as I dragged my nail through the grass over again. He didn't talk for a minute, and I didn't glance at him to see if it was his anger or his surprise that kept his mouth shut.

"I'm thinking about going to see her," Jake finally said, and I could hear the slight edge to his voice like a red flag: _tread carefully_. "I think I found a way to tell her everything without getting caught up in Sam's order."

"Great, now she gets to know our dirty secrets and still dance over your heart like a graceless ballerina. I think your idea is absolutely genius, Jacob," I said dryly. "Honestly, maybe if she knows that there are living supernatural creatures waiting around for her to hop on, she might save herself the embarrassment of getting suicidal over stone-cold dead things that kill innocents for fun."

Another pause, another blade of grass. The topic of conversation was doing next to nothing to get my mind off of what had been so effectively consuming my mind all day. Talking about a girl that willingly hung around the exact things that killed my mom was the last thing I wanted to be doing, yet I couldn't muster up the nerve to tell Jacob to take a hike.

"You know, I was wrong that day in class," Jacob started, and I looked at him quickly out of confusion. "About you needing to stay away from Paul."

"I'm not talking about this," I stated. I stood quickly, pulling at the buttons of my gloves to remove them as I headed towards the shed, but he was hot on my heels.

"You need each other, Brynn," Jacob said, holding the shed door for me as I went inside and began returning the weapons to their rightful place. My jaw clenched as I tried to block him out. "Look at you, for fuck's sake. You've been out here for hours taking down trees and a mannequin and lighting shit on fire. What's that going to do for you?"

"It'll make sure I don't miss when I get the chance to do the real thing," I hissed, slamming the glove chest shut and walking out of the shed. "I imagine I'll have a slim shot, but if I can manage it then it'll be worth it. If not, I die and it wont even matter."

"What?" Jacob growled, and the sound wasn't nearly as comforting as when it came from Paul. I turned to face him, not wanting to show my back to someone who had only just recently started to learn to control their anger. "What's the big plan here, Brynn?"

I finally met his eyes, able to feel the intensity of my own gaze as I said the words, "I'm going to kill the fucker."

"Brynn," he sighed, and I wanted to punch him in the face for how thickly he laced my name in pity. "You don't understand these things. Their speed, their strength… there's a reason we turn into giant, impossible wolves to be able to take these things down."

"I'm not stupid, I know that," I snapped, crossing my arms over my chest like a petulant child. "When Paul gets back, I'm going to take a Tick 101 course with him and figure out the plan then."

Another flash of pity. "You told him to stay away from you, Brynn," he said, voice gentle and soft. "He took off to Canada, was thinking all this shit about giving you space, making sure you don't see him again."

Another, sharper pain twisted my heart. "I meant for now," I mumbled, shaking my head and taking a step back. "He's just done now?"

Was it really that easy for him? I had tried, over and over with as much force as I could muster, to shove down the blatant want and longing I had felt for him, and it drained me each and every time I did. The idea of Paul keeping his distance like it was the smoothest sailing he had ever witnessed felt like a blow to every piece of me. I had been surprised when the days ticked by and he hadn't come to me, but I figured that everyone had been reporting to him that I was still angry, that I wasn't mentioning wanting him there yet. The fact that he just didn't care shook me to my core.

"I need to go now," I breathed, because it was the strongest I could manage to make my voice. My hand grabbed at my chest as I moved towards the door, that same annoying pang of tears that seemed to come so easily to me these days beginning to start up.

"Wait, Brynn!" Jacob was calling as I slid open the door, and I could hear him trailing me. "It's not like that, wait!"

I slammed the door shut behind me and made a point of locking it, though I was sure the gesture was futile against a shapeshifter. It didn't seem to matter; Jacob didn't do more than knock at the glass, and I didn't do more than make my way up the stairs. I curled into my bed, grabbing frantically for the two T-Shirts that had turned into a wrinkled heap from my constant clinging to them.

Jacob had been right, in a way. These problems may both be my own, but focusing on only one of them made the other so much easier to live through. Sobs wracked through my entire body as I clung to the fabric, curled around it like it was the only thing giving me any sense of life. Maybe it was. Paul's scent had long since strayed from the shirt, but it was the only thing of him that I had. I had the urge to call for my dad and have someone to comfort me, but in the end I fell asleep alone that night, just like the before.

It took me two days to muster up the courage to see them.

Walking into Emily's home, I felt somehow more invasive than I had the first time. Maybe it was the lack of a warm chest pressing against my back, or maybe it was because I didn't really know where the pack stood with me anymore. I hadn't called ahead to warn anyone of my presence, though they all seemed to have been expecting me as greeting and cheers at my appearance filtered around the kitchen.

"There she is!" Jared crowed, moving around the table to press a kiss into the crown of my head.

"I was wondering when you were going to get your ass over here again," Embry chuckled, offering a quick side hug before he took his seat.

Emily's greeting was the warmest. She wrapped her arms around me just like she had the first time, but the squeeze was tighter than before, more familiar. "We missed you," she said against my shoulder, and the overwhelming surge of _family_ had me feeling emotional as I returned the words.

"Pot roast?" Sam asked, smiling where he was carrying the crock pot to the center of the table. "It's a hit around here."

"Yeah, that's what, um…" I stumbled for a second. "That's what I've heard." I moved around the table to the seat I had sat in before and felt overwhelming gratitude when Jared took the empty seat beside me, making it less loud that Paul wasn't here.

We ate in comfortable conversation, Jacob catching my eye more than once throughout the dinner and making me wonder whether or not he had told everyone what my plans were for Adrian. I ignored it for the most part, laughing along to Jared's animated story of spilling pasta on Kim during their first date and listening to Embry groan about how boring it was to sit and watch Jacob work on his Rabbit. The ache in my chest went away just slightly, still painful but less enough so that I could take a good breath every once in a while.

"Have you guys, um" I started, stabbing at a piece of meat on my plate and taking my time with getting the words out. "Have any of you heard from him?"

The silence around the table was almost deafening before Emily spoke up.

"Sam said he's taking the scenic route back from Canada," she said, offering me a warm smile as she said it.

Jared stepped in, too. "Oh, so he discloses his location to you? All he ever says to me is 'How's Brynn? Is she eating? Did she pass her math test?'," he laughed, shaking his head as he took another bite of food.

For the first time, I welcomed the swell of hope in my chest, allowed for the longing to reach as far as it wanted to, and hoped to whoever was listening that maybe Paul felt it, too.

"Well," I sighed, and I could tell that everyone was waiting for how I would react. "Let him know I said that I completely aced that stupid test, and that Mr. Burke can shove it."

They were clearly the magic words as I watched visible tension flush out of everyone around me, even Jared. We ate brownies and ice cream for dessert, before once again Emily and I were kicking everyone into the living room. They mostly went without budging, though I caught Sam pressing kisses into Emily's face the same way he had done before, only I turned my back on the sight this time.

Baby steps.

"Hey," Jared said on his way out, pausing in the doorway and leaning against the ledge. "I know you were nervous and everything about coming back, but I hope you know you're always good with us. Everything with Paul, we get it. I'd be pissed off if I had been in your shoes, too," he said, once again sending gratitude crashing through me. "And besides, Paul knows better than anyone that people say crazy shit when they're mad. He's just got his tail tucked between his legs because it was you who said it."

His hand shot out to ruffle my hair, earning a laugh and swat from me before he was leaving to sit with the guys and watch some action film. I watched him go, reminding myself to tell Kim how lucky she was the next chance I got.

"Here," Emily said, shoving a towel and wet pan in my direction. "It's girl talk time."

"Finally," I exhaled, earning a laugh from the older woman. "I appreciate the guys and all, but…"

"But nothing works as well as female-female conversation? Trust me, I know," she giggled, passing me another dish. "How have things been with you? I know all of this was a lot to handle, stacked right on top of each other like this, but it's good to keep a mental inventory of how you're feeling."

"Things have been…" I considered her question for a minute. "Really bad, actually. It's weird to think about after over a week has passed. I just keep replaying everything, thinking about what I would change and what I wouldn't."

It was true, too; most of the nights I spent in my room alone led me down a rabbit hole of wishful thinking and pretending the entire situation had gone down differently. It started with my dad, who so clearly struggled with what he had to tell me that I should've listened longer than I did. I knew my hurt was justified, but I wasn't convinced that the non-stop silent treatment was doing anything for anybody. Then the Pack, the way I gave them the cold shoulder and clipped responses despite how many times they tried to drag me into their conversations and humor. Kim had been the only one spared of the bullet I had turned into last week.

I always saved thinking of Paul for last.

"I didn't think that he would take me seriously," I admitted, and I hated the way my voice sounded as the material around my heart tugged again. "And it sucks even more because I can't call him or text him or even write him a damn letter because he's loping around on four legs in the middle of Bumfuck, Canada."

Emily laughed good naturedly, drying her hands before smoothing one down my back. The gesture was exactly what I needed and what I completely feared because I had always been the type of person who could stiffen up their chin until someone tried to comfort me. My head tilted back as I blinked up at the ceiling, trying to get the moisture in my eyes to dry up.

"I can _feel_ him, Em," I breathed, the hand still holding the rag coming up to my chest as if the connection was a physical thing I could grab. "I can feel his hurt and this consuming rage in him, and most of all I feel longing, but most of the time I can't tell which of us it's coming from."

"I know what you mean," Emily soothed, stroking a hand down my back once more. "In the beginning, Sam and I both tried to fight the bond that we had. He had been in a long-term relationship with someone we both cared deeply about, and neither one of us wanted to hurt her." The information was a surprise to me; it was hard to imagine a time in which Sam and Emily weren't together, let alone a time that they tried not to be. "But the imprint bond is no joke, let me tell you. Most nights, I felt like I couldn't breathe. And Sam? It nearly killed him, trying to fight what was so obviously meant to happen."

My blood ran cold. "Nearly killed him?" I asked, the alarm apparent in my voice.

She didn't attempt to sugar coat anything, still trailing that same hand up and down my back as she spoke. "He won't let the guys in as much as they let on," Emily admitted, a look of worry suddenly pulling her lips into a frown. "Sam says they can all feel it though, the pain he's going through while trying to stay away. No one said anything earlier, but the reason he's even coming back is because Sam is so worried about him. He ordered him."

"Is being around me really that bad?" I asked, stepping away from the comforting gesture to instead pace the small space in front of the counter.

"No, honey," Emily said, and her voice almost sounded scolding. "He believes he let you down, and now he's trying to do the last thing you asked of him correctly. Paul is a tough guy, don't get me wrong, but there's a reason everyone picks on him so bad when it comes to you. It's like that hard layer completely melts away when he's with you, and to know that he hurt the person that brings him so much life? It's hard for him to stomach that."

"He's wrong," I said, running a hand through my hair before dragging both of them down my face. "How can he not feel how wrong he is?"

Emily offered me a soft, sad smile. "That's the thing about Paul, Brynn," she said. "He loves you, and if he thinks that hurting himself is what it takes to make you happy, he's going to do that."

**AN: ): That's it. That's the author's note. **

**PS. Review, review, review. **


	14. Soft

**SOFT**

_Paul_

Six days.

Six days on four legs.

Six days of running.

Six days of no Brynn.

Day one I thought would be the worst, having to get myself to understand everything and to keep myself away. I didn't think it could get harder than sleeping alone without knowing if she was okay or if she was sleeping well. The pain was bad, but it was welcomed by me as I went over the look of open hurt in her eyes again and again. I had been wrong, though. With every passing hour of every dragged out day, I could feel the line between 'I deserve this' and 'I can't live through this' becoming more and more blurred.

Pain and anger were the only things that seemed to be alive in me, driving me forward every time I felt like I couldn't go any longer. My heart had long since stopped beating, I was convinced of that much, and yet there was still an ache in my empty chest that wouldn't go away no matter what I tried. I attacked bears, chased mountain lions, doing anything I could think of to get some of that anger out and loosen up that tightness in my chest, but nothing worked.

Well, that wasn't entirely true.

When my brothers phased in, it was my one quick chance to catch my breath as I sorted through their minds for the most recent memories they had of Brynn. Mostly they made me feel worse, the way bags clung to the bottoms of her eyes and she seemed so detached from the rest of the world. Still, it was like seeing her was close enough to being with her that I could inhale easily for that split second.

I was losing my mind, I was so certain of it. The rage that had made me seemingly infamous before Brynn had returned tenfold now, eating away at nerves and muscle and soul just to try to get something out. The man had entirely given himself to the wolf on all but one aspect: returning. Try as I may to get my point across, my wolf wasn't having it. He took leaps in the wrong direction when he thought I wasn't paying attention, occasionally tried to fight with me for that dominance and control, before we would both collapse in a heap, muzzle to the dirt and paws over our eyes. Perhaps that was why there had been no argument when Sam had ordered me to come back to La Push.

Every hour that went by as I ran towards the reservation, my resolve melted away more and more as if the few steps I was closer to her made it seem pointless to stay away at all. At first it was still the same: I would stay away from her, I wouldn't go near her home, I wouldn't risk her seeing me at any point. That all turned into the idea of staying outside her home at night, extra precaution and a chance to actually sleep at night. Of course that led to the plotting of accidentally being at Emily's the same time she was, occasional run-ins in the school hallway.

It wasn't all selfish reasonings, though I wasn't ashamed to admit that some of them were. Sam had told me in detail about him fighting the imprint in hopes of staying with Leah Clearwater and how it caused both of them more hurt than the trouble was worth. That had been the first time I let myself have hope that Brynn was missing me too, the occasional thrum inside of me might be _her_ reaching out. The need to protect her was stronger than the desire to give her the space she asked for, and so I took figuring out inconspicuous times and innocent clashes that I could somehow work together, making the time go by as quickly as it could when it was all spent running.

I nearly howled my happiness when I stepped foot on the familiar soil of the Quileute Reservation, dropping my head and dragging the side of my body along a tree to press my scent into the trunk and to give myself that familiar, earthy scent of home. I didn't know what day it was, but I knew it had only been an hour since Emily had finished up on dinner, so I turned my nose in the direction. I most jogged the page, purposely taking the scenic route so I could drop by Brynn's place quickly. Checking each and every turn twice, I didn't give myself much of a chance to linger out of respect for her.

But the peace of being in her presence, surrounded by her scent for the first time in a week, could have sent me falling to the ground. It was so clearly off, her sadness something I could sense even in traces of her smell, but it was so _Brynn_ that I took advantage of the opportunity regardless. I drew in breath after breath, relieved when the tension within my chest seemed to ease just long enough for me to get my fill. I looked insane, taking pulls out of the air just because of a girl, but it had me feeling better than I had in weeks. I pricked my ears forward in a silent search of any sign of her, but all I could pick up on was the distant clicking of someone at a keyboard and the aggravated sighs that would leave James Price's mouth every few minutes.

It was hard to turn away, but eventually I left the house behind me to make my way towards the only place I had ever considered to be home. The sun was still higher in the sky as I phased in the treeline, grabbing at the sack of shorts Emily kept outside for any emergencies. The smell of pot roast was heavy in the air, and the growl that left me came from my stomach instead of my throat this time. The heavy scent of lilac filled my lungs as I stepped on to the porch, making me stumble on my feet as my hand reached for the doorknob.

She was _here_, and with the knowledge everything else in my head seemed to scatter into a million tiny, insignificant pieces. The tightening around my chest became suddenly suffocating and lighter all at the same time, and I took the time I could convince myself to wait to drag in lungful after lungful of that scent.

"Sam," I could hear her calling, and my entire body seemed to shake at hearing her voice in my own ears for the first time in far too long. Was there a tilt in her voice? Had she been crying? "Do you know how far away he is from La Push? Could you go ask him?"

I hadn't been paying close enough attention. She had been talking about me and now she was asking about where I was, and I didn't know any of the context to it. Did she want to avoid me? Was she trying to find me, to come to me? The idea sent another shake through my body, the wolf excited and aggressively trying to get me to push open the door.

"No need," I heard Sam say, already having heard my arrival.

There was a scuffle, the sound of footsteps walking across the hardwood, before Jared was whispering, "I told you he'd come back, B."

The pull of pure longing throughout my body became the strongest I had ever felt and I could hear her heartbeat thunder through the thin wooden doors separating us. I didn't register when my body had pulled itself together enough to push through the door, but I came back to myself in full when my eyes zeroed in on the girl in front of me.

If anyone was looking at me, talking to me, I hadn't registered even a second of the attention as I looked at my imprint. Her back was to me, tiny hands clasping at a towel in her hands that she was slowly wringing to death. I could have crumpled from the relief when I was able to pull a clean, unobstructed breath and it was all _her_. I crossed the small space between the door to her in autopilot, only stopping when her back was pressed to my chest. Without thinking, I dipped my head down to breathe across the side of her neck, fanning her in my scent and driving everything else away. I kept my hands to my sides with visible difficulty, just happy to take this little piece of her that she was giving.

"Brynn," I breathed the name for the first time aloud, my eyes closing in bliss.

I wasn't fully human, had impossible abilities that allowed me to do what I was born for, and that fact alone was the only thing that kept me from falling back on my ass at the pure force Brynn put behind throwing herself against my chest. The steps back that I had to take to balance us left us on the porch, feeling her nails drag along my scalp before her fingers gripped tight in my hair and the force her thighs were using to hold themselves wrapped around my body. My hands had hung by my side, completely stupefied by the greeting, but I was quick to fix that once my mind was able to wrap around the fact that she was _holding me_. One wrapped around the small of her back, holding her as close as I possibly could without hurting her, the other slipping under her backside to bring her body further up my own.

"I'm sorry," she was saying, repeating the words as her mouth pressed kiss after kiss against my through, my shoulder, along my collarbones. "Please stay, I'm sorry, please don't go anywhere."

How the hell had she found something to apologize for? The hand on her back moved to push the hair against her face away, coaxing her eyes up into mine for the first time in six long, insufferable days. All the pain and betrayal had dispersed in them, replaced with a compelling mixture of hope, relief, and _love_. The words I had planned to say were ripped from my mouth at the sight and I was quickly closing that last space between us to claim her mouth with my own.

Enduring the burning torment that had consumed me for the last week was worth it after the first brush of her lips against mine. My body moved us across the porch, using the side of the house and my hips to hold her body against mine as my hands ran up her body to hold her face to mine. It was a hungry, passionate kiss and each stroke of my tongue on hers or her teeth against my lips was a telltale sign of that. The very taste of her mouth snipped whatever noose had been tight around my heart and when she sighed my name, purred it like a plea against my mouth, it set the damned thing on fire.

It took tasting wet, salty tears for me to pull back from her just enough to rest my forehead against hers, able to feel her catching her breath.

"Hey, Price," I mumbled, my thumbs sliding beneath her eyes to wipe the tears off her face. Her eyes closed, lips pursing to press two kisses against the pad of my thumb. "What's all this?"

"Guess the guys didn't pass on the memo," she sniffed, a dry laugh leaving her. Her hands, still fisting my hair, squeezed twice. "I cry now. Like, all the time."

A sad, twisted smile pulled at my lips. "You've had a lot of shit piled on you, baby," I soothed, ignoring what being able to call her that again did to my entire being, before pressing a string of kisses from the middle of her forehead and down along her face. "Your mom, your dad...me."

"Stop," she said, brows pulling down as she looked at me. I would've laughed at the cross expression if I hadn't known better. "Every night, I would sit and just replay it all in my head. It took awhile, but by day three I got sort of pissed off when I realized you had done the right thing."

The door opened, Embry ducking out with a bashful smile and a small wave before heading into the trees. I didn't miss the low wolf whistle that came from the door as it opened, surely giving everyone a good view of the position we were in.

"Brynn," I said, pulling my head back into the conversation. "You had every right-"

"No," she interrupted, shifting her back against the wall uncomfortably. "I didn't." I moved my hands to the back of her thighs to ease her body down, only just letting her feet touch the ground before they were wrapping around her again. "Hearing it from you instead of my dad would've made everything so much worse."

"Regardless, I think next time I'm going to toss him to the wolves and keep my seat in your good graces," I chuckled, only properly smiling when she laughed with me.

"Wolf jokes, really?" Brynn teased, looking up at me. I could've happy-danced at the way her heart skipped a beat when she saw my smile, leaning down to kiss her quickly instead. "But, we need to-"

This time she was being interrupted, but it wasn't by me. A loud and clear howl sounded through the trees, long and high in our typical signal for only one thing. It was unmistakable; there were no _Wolf Language 101_ books we had to read in order to understand a half of our own language.

"Get to Embry," Sam was ordering as the screen door slammed open, Jacob and Jared running out. "Paul, let's go."

"Stay inside with Emily," I said as I turned to Brynn, my arms slipping from her waist to instead take her hands in my own, pulling her towards the door.

"My dad is home, I have to tell him," she was saying, pulling at my arms in resistance.

Gone was any sweet and gentle tone in my voice as I took her face in my hands, making sure her eyes were on mine. "Get inside with Emily. Do not leave this house."

Emily was at the door then, pulling Brynn inside as soon as I pressed a kiss to her hairline in a growingly familiar goodbye. I took off towards the trees, looking over my shoulder once to ensure that both girls had gone inside, before Sam and I were both phasing and taking off.

_It's over this way!_ Embry was shouting, sending a flurry of mental pictures through our link to show his whereabouts.

Sam and I both pushed harder, catching up with Jared and Jacob on a shortcut through the Black house. It was risky, but we both knew that I wasn't going to be going the safe route to get where I needed to be.

A sudden, unexpected burst of Brynn, dressed in black with a flaming sword shot through my head from Jacob, and nearly tripped over the sudden image.

_What was that_, I demanded, an ugly growl coming out of me as transferred over the invisible treaty line and into Forks.

_An accident, _Jacob returned, but he must have expected my argument because he played out the full interaction. _She wants to do it herself, Paul,_ he said, as if I hadn't gathered all of that on my own.

_Let's know it's him before we get into this shit_, Sam snarled.

"Victoria will not be happy about my killing you," a thick accented voice said as the smell of rot and sugary bleach filled my nose. It wasn't the redhead, and my blood ran cold with that knowledge. "But I can't help myself, you are so mouthwatering."

Embry had joined us, and Sam pulled us into a triangle formation as we stalked through the trees into a deadened field. There were two figures standing close to the middle, a dark-skinned man with dreadlocks, the thing that was emitting the scent and clouding the entire damn forest with his smell. The other?

_Bella_, Jacob finished, his head dropping low as a rough, nasty sound pulled from his throat.

"I can't believe it," the parasite gasped, looking over his shoulder at us.

The rest was a blur. He had attempted to run, landing one good blow that knocked Sam on his ass before I fell on to him. Bella had long taken off by the time I pulled the prick's head from his shoulders, spitting it out in the growing pile of body parts that we had all taken part in.

There was a steady thrum between each of us as we watched Sam phase to light the bastard on fire; it had been so long since we had caught a scent, so the fact that we had finally taken a vampire down was enough for us to be practically skipping as we made our way back to Emily's. Jared had even started a wrestling match with me, and it continued well into us getting to the small home.

Sam had Phased to call for Emily in our quick, high pitched greeting. The door had just been opening when I shoved Jared away, about to Phase to greet my imprint, when I was pulled short. He caught one of my hind legs between his teeth, pulling like it was a rope and not a part of my damn body, and a yip of amusement left Jacob's wolfy mouth.

_End him, Jared,_ the kid said, sitting on his hunches to watch the little fight go down.

_Paul, what if we call a truce and tag team him?_ Jared offered, just before I turned my body quick enough to snap my teeth on his nose, effectively freeing my leg so I could take Jacob down.

"Idiots," I heard Sam grumble, but I didn't miss the amusement in his voice. "Gonna tear down the house one of these days."

"Let them enjoy their adrenaline," Emily chastised.

"It's kind of cute," Brynn laughed, distracting me for long enough to receive a bite on the ear from Jared. "They're like puppies."

_Bro._

_What the fuck?_

_I feel emasculated. _

I couldn't even tell which thought was mine and which was theirs, because they all fit my exact train of thought. We broke apart, all agreeing on a new, defenseless target instead. Jacob went after her first, snagging a boot off of her foot from where her leg was crossed, leaving it an easy target.

"Hey!" She yelled, appalled as Jared took the boot from our brother, digging into the ground with his paws.

_Show her a fucking puppy,_ he thought.

I would've interfered, but Brynn was laughing hard enough to clutch her stomach, Emily's giggles filtering through along with Sam's deeper chuckles. After being fed images and memories of her looking so caved in on herself, words couldn't describe how it felt to see her skin glow, her cheeks pink, and her eyes bright as she enjoyed the company of the people that I held close to me. I knew it wouldn't last forever, that eventually the desire to take down whoever was tracking her down would cause more shit in both of our lives, but for now this would be enough.

"Jared, don't you dare put dirt in my boot! I'm not kidding, I'll skin you like the animal you are and turn you into a coat for Kim," she seethed, jerking up from her seat on the porch stairs beside Emily. "Paul, come on!"

I made sure she caught the roll to my eyes before I pushed off my hunches, making my way to the sizable hole Jared had been digging, boot forgotten where it laid on the grass beside his legs. I made my way to him casually, even working up a decent enough yawn as I got beside him.

_Pretty big for a boot,_ I pointed out.

_You think her whole body could fit in here?_ He asked, and even in wolf-form I could still see the stupid wiggle to his brows.

I nudged my shoulder into his, seemingly friendly, before I was snatching the boot up and running off. I made sure to dodge the hole, but I couldn't say the same for my brain-busting brother. One of his legs fell in, completely knocking off his balance bad enough to send his muzzle smacking into the ground, resulting in another round of laughter.

I dropped the boot at Brynn's side on the porch, eyes closing as her hand hesitantly came out to stroke against the fur at my chest. She had to stretch her arm to manage it, my height even while sitting being too tall for her to reach from her position. The wolf let out a comforted, pleased noise as it finally received contact with its mate again, seeming to accept the fact that all was well and maybe I did know what I was doing after all.

I leaned down to rub my muzzle along her cheek, earning a scratch to my chin and a surprising kiss to my snout, before I was lopping off to Phase in the privacy of the trees. Jared, who had been bitching and moaning in my head, finally got up from where he had crash-landed to follow me. He kept his teeth to himself this time.

_Fuck you guys, no one ever wants to wrestle when I'm around_, Embry huffed, still running patrol.

_No one wants to wrestle you because it sucks when we win all the time_, Jared shot back, pleased with himself.

_You fuck with me even though you lose all the time_, I pointed out, listening to Embry's _HA_ before I was back on two legs.

I walked back out to Brynn brushing off her jeans, telling everyone goodbye as she did so. Both boots were on her feet now and I couldn't help but smirk when Jared pretended to lunge for them and got a swift kick to his thigh in response.

"Wouldn't do that, man," Jacob chuckled from his seat on top of the picnic table. "Girl knows how to shoot bows while they're on fire. I'd rather take my chance with a vampire any day."

"That's my girl," I said with a smirk. Brynn looked pleased enough with herself, coming easily as I pulled her into my side and pressed a kiss into her temple.

"You'll back soon, right?" Emily asked, stepping towards Brynn for a brief hug instead of making Brynn leave my side to go to her, something I was more than grateful for. I thought that I had been bordering on clingy before, walking that very thin line between suffocating and affectionate, but now I knew I had vaulted over it and was dancing on the other side.

Brynn returned the hug, nodding as she did so. "Spring break is in a week and I can only eat my dad's taco casserole so many times, so don't worry. Maybe we can do a trade: you give me a recipe, I'll give you a lesson in throwing a knife into Jared's eye whenever he steps out of line."

"That's just wrong," Jared sighed, shaking his head. "You hurt me more with every word that comes out of your mouth."

Brynn leaned over to ruffle a hand through his chair, putting a spin on his usual greeting and goodbye to her. That possessive pull inside of me didn't even bat an eye at the gesture because it was Jared. I didn't know when they had gotten so close, but I could only hope that it would continue as time progressed. I saw every one of the wolves as my brothers, but Jared was the closest thing to the real deal that I could think of. We had been friends ever since we were kids, our moms having been close since high school, and it was something that never went away. He was there to press a juice box to my bruises during lunch, and I was there to pummel the kids that made fun of him for liking Spider Man instead of Superman.

"Paul," Sam said, dragging my attention up towards him and away from my best friend and my imprint. "Patrol at four tomorrow. I don't want to hear about your adventure to Canada- you have a responsibility to your people."

I knew what he said was true, but I also knew that sleeping in Brynn's bed for the next three days while holding her hostage to keep her there with me had been at the top of my To Do list ever since I saw her again. My response was an 'OK' sign with my hand that I quickly turned into the 'FU' sign when he turned to pull Emily close.

"And Paul?" Sam said when Brynn and I had started the walk back to my truck, which I guess she had taken to driving since I had been gone. I turned to look at him, raising my brows in a silent question. "It's good to have you back."

The drive back to Brynn's was quiet, but the most comfortable kind. She had always sat in the middle when I drove to be close, but now she was practically draped against me, head pressed to my shoulder and one of her legs hooked over my knee to keep her anchored to me. I wasn't complaining; I kept an arm wrapped around her the entire time, pressing kisses against her head every twenty seconds or so that went by.

James was there when we got inside, watching TV but typing away at his laptop as he did so. He looked up when we came in and did a double take when he saw me. He didn't say anything, but I could read it all in the greeting nod he gave me: _I'm glad you're here for her. _

I made my way to the kitchen, purposely letting go of Brynn as I did so. I had caught sight of her furrowed brows and silent mouthing in the car, and I didn't have to guess that she was thinking of what she was going to say to her dad. I hadn't been here to see everything, but I knew that if she was fighting the pain of being away from me, then ignoring her father must have been easier for her to do.

"Hey, dad?" I heard her say, before I took the stairs two at a time to get to her bedroom quicker to turn on the TV. I didn't like eavesdropping, it was just something I couldn't help unless I had something else to focus my hearing on.

I grabbed a few of the clothes I had left here for nights I knew I'd be staying so I could shower downstairs, the shorts more out of respect for her father than actually needing them, when something on her bed caught my eye. A bundle of red and black, wrinkled and crumpled beyond recognition, but the scent of them told me exactly what they were. The image it gave me, of a broken and crying Brynn clinging to the last bit of me she had, made me feel sick to my stomach. I grabbed up the shirts and tossed them into her hamper, scowling as I did so.

I wouldn't ever let her need something to take the place of me again.

She was sitting on the bed when I got back from my shower and already looked like some of the invisible weight on her shoulders had been lifted, even if it was just a slight amount. She had changed into an oversized green shirt with the Lucky Charms leprechaun on the front of it, and I had to pause after closing the door. Guys said cheesy shit like this all the time, but this was my favorite version of her: yawning, sleepy eyed, all soft for me, and in clothes that no one else got to see her in.

"Tired, baby?" I asked, tossing my shorts into her hamper as I moved towards the bed. I could hear her heart race at the low tone of my voice, exhaustion evident in it, and I couldn't help but smirk at the reminder of just how 'into me' she was.

"Mhm," Brynn hummed, curling up on the inside of the mattress and impatiently tapping at my side. "Come on, I'm excited to sleep good for once."

I checked the lock on her window to ensure it was locked and would make a hell of a lot of noise if someone tried to get in. I smiled and flicked off the light, turning off the television before flicking on her obnoxiously loud box fan. She needed the noise to sleep, getting too restless and fidgety when she could hear herself breathing, and I didn't mind a little noise if it meant her sleeping well and seeking me out for warmth. I had barely laid down before she was partially on top of me, leg hooking over my hip as her lips pressed to mine gently.

"I missed you so much," she whispered, the moon coming in from her window illuminating her eyes as she looked down at me. "You have no idea."

"Believe me," I disagreed. "I do."

She settled against me with her cheek against my chest, and I let the sound of her breaths deepening be what lull me to the first good night of sleep I had in six days.

**AN: Alright, folks. First things first: If you could ask these characters a list of questions, what would they be? Anything in the world. I'm trying to decide if I want to do a Q&A type deal as a side piece, but I can't think of what you guys would want to know. **

**Second: I've decided that happiness isn't nearly as fun to write as sadness, but I also love Paul and Brynn too much to put them through too much turmoil. But, guess who is making a return in the next chapter? Miss Bella Swan herself and boy does it get ugly. Also, I got the sweetest review ever from someone who made a ANTM reference and it made my week, so thank you to that amazing soul. **

**Third: To the hundred others of you who have been keeping their thoughts to themselves, STOP. I am so interested to know what you guys think of the (admittedly quick) reunion, the Laurent death, and what Paul is thinking about Brynn trying to get tied up in the art of killing vampires. How long do you think it'll be before Adrian finally gets involved in all this mess? Let me know what you think when you review, review, review! **


	15. Hit

**HIT**

_Brynn_

"You've officially done it," I groaned, letting my head fall back against the cabinets as I chewed. "You have made the banana nut muffin your bitch, Emily Young."

"Thank you, thank you," Emily laughed, giving a mock bow and a cocky shrug, both gestures seeming to lose their cocky edge when performed by someone as polite as the woman was.

We were in the kitchen of her house like we had been the past few days ever since my Spring Break had started. It was just the two of us for once as the boys had left to drag Jacob out of bed as a cruel punishment for going to see Bella last night. I had to give it to him; he lasted way longer than I thought he would after the talk we had at my house.

In the meantime, Emily and I were enjoying as much one on one girl time as we possibly could. We had started with talking as we painted our nails, an awful reality TV show on in the background as we did so. Most of our conversation landed on Kim Connweller, the subject of most of our thoughts lately as Jared let us all know that he told her everything Friday night. I was ecstatic to know that Kim would be joining Emily and I's girl days soon, unable to stop the happy grin on my face even as Jared tried to explain to me that she needed time to think about it.

"I don't even know if she's thinking good things about it," he had tried to reason last night, sitting at my kitchen table with Paul and engulfing pizza. "She could be calling the psych ward and admitting herself in."

"Yeah, okay," I scoffed, leaning forward from behind Paul to pluck an olive off of his slice. "If there's one thing I know in this world, it's that Kim is going to be calling me in no time to share her thrill over being your soulmate. Dude, she's liked you since you were twelve. Do you know how committed someone has to be to like a boy at that age?"My words seemed to soothe him, and he left my house with less tension in his shoulders, which is all I could ask for.

Essentially, there was a lot of talking to do and less painting of the nails to focus on. Two coats of periwinkle later and Emily and I had moved to the kitchen, me sat on the counter and watching intensely as Emily attempted to teach me her recipe for muffins. It didn't go so well, so I resulted in making up for my lack of culinary skill by doing the dishes while they cooked. And when they were finished?

"God," I groaned again, shaking my head in disbelief as I stared at the half-eaten muffin in my hand. "I almost wish I was as much of a bottomless pit as they were just so I could eat _more_."

"Imagine Paul's face if you ever turned wolf on him," she giggled, picking at a muffin of her own. "God, he'd probably just be turned on."

"Emily Makiah Young!" I gasped, leaning to playfully shove her shoulder as she snickered. "You watch that filthy little mouth of yours."

We simmered down, though occasionally she would glance at me and raise her eyebrows as if to say 'Am I wrong?' and cause another fit of laughter between the two of us. Emily turned to start plating the muffins in preparation for the hounds about to come in, and I saw the way her eyebrows suddenly pinched in the middle.

"How are you two?" She asked gently. The warmth of her words hit me like one of her hugs, and I smiled down at my muffin to resist pulling her in for an embrace. "I mean, with all of this going on and the stress that it's putting over both of your heads. He isn't being too much, is he?"

I tried to think of a time when Paul Lahote had ever been anything less than too much and came up with nothing. "He's very paranoid," I admitted softly. "I'll wake up in the middle of the night to him checking the locks on my bedroom window or walking back upstairs after doing a quick scan of the house."

Emily's lips formed a thin line, and I could see that she was just as worried but for more reasons than just what I told her. Paul was exhausting himself with his constant need to check everything was okay, losing sleep between his own paranoia and patrol, which he pushed himself too hard for. After the Cullens had left it meant that Forks was added to their patrol routes, and Jared had already let it slip to me that Paul had doubled his circles.

Neither of us had the chance to say more when the door was pulled open, Jared and Embry kissing Emily's head before taking a seat, Jared just having to take the one my feet had been resting in. They had tried to give the same greeting to me once, but Paul had let out such a nasty sound that they never attempted it again. Behind them, looking small with her shoulders hunched and her eyes wide, was a pale girl with dark hair.

Bella Swan.

I had grown to dislike the girl beyond my disgust with the way she treated Jacob. Now that I knew who the Cullens were, or better yet, _what_ they were, I had looked at Bella in a whole new light. A gloomy, spiders crawling in the shadows type of light.

"Who this?" Emily asked, moving to grab the tray of muffins off of the counter and set it on the counter. I followed her, keeping open the chairs for when Paul and Jacob arrived, to instead sit on the island top to be closer to everyone.

Jared scoffed, grabbing two muffins and biting into one. "Bella Swan, who else?"

"Oh," Emily replied softly, eyeing Bella with a hint of amusement. "So you're the vampire girl."

It took a moment for Bella to catch up with the conversation, smiling a forced and awkward curve of her mouth, and I eyed her warily. All my life I had been trained to kill the things that Bella loved so much, even if I just now figured that out. The creatures that Bella wrapped herself around had been the same creature that murdered my uncle and my mother.

"You're the wolf girls," Bella said, dark eyes flickering over me and then back to Emily.

Emily laughed, looking at me over her shoulder before shrugging. "Guess so," she agreed. "Well, I'm engaged to one. Brynn is dating one." Her hand gestured towards the tray in the center of the table in offering, before falling on to Embry's shoulder to give him a push. Embry grinned and reached out a hand for another muffin, earning a slap to the wrist. "Save some for your brothers, and ladies first!" She gleaned up at Bella again, always too warm and welcoming even when people didn't deserve it. "Muffin?"

"Sure," Bella said, hugging her shoulders to her ears as she reached to grab one off the top of the pile. "Thanks."

My eyes narrowed at her again and I could tell she noticed because she had made a point to not look me in the eye, though I caught her staring at me from the corner of her eye more than once. The fact that she was intimidated by me was comforting, but it wasn't enough to make me try and have small talk with the leech lover.

"Leave it to Jake to find a way around Sam's gag order," I grumbled, smirking when I heard Jared's chuckle.

"He didn't say anything to me," Bella promised, finally looking me in the eyes as worry flooded hers. "I figured it out myself."

I just stared at her and scoffed. _Likely story_.

"Doubt the others will be back soon, so I think it's our given right to eat as much as we want," Embry said, earning a snort of agreement from Jared.

"What?" I asked, my eyebrows furrowing in confusion as I pushed the toe of my shoe into Jared's ribs to get him to look at me. "What happened? Is Paul alright?"

"Oh, he's just fine," Jared reassured, tapping my ankle before turning back to the table.

Embry scoffed. "You wish. That five bucks is mine when Jacob tears his ass apart," he said, a mischievous glint in his eye as if he already knew he would win whatever new bet the two of them had going on.

"They're fighting again?" Emily asked, sounding just as exasperated as I felt. "I thought this was over with after last week?"

Honestly, so did I. The two had been at each other's throats all week, though none of us could ever tell why. Whenever I tried to push it out of Paul, it just made his lip curl in resentment before he shook his head, telling me the conversation wasn't worth ruining our night over. I had allowed the dismissal at the time, but now I was wondering if I should've dug harder at him, or even just asked Jacob about it.

"In Paul's defense, he had a reason for wolfing out this time," Jared defended, and I didn't miss the way he and Embry both looked at Bella over their shoulder before glancing at me. "Bella did smack him in the face."

I was propelling myself off the counter top before I had even registered what I was doing, narrowly missing Jared's attempt to slow me from his chair. My hands gripped Bella's shoulders, shoving her back against the wall.

"What the fuck?" I demanded, feeling Jared's arm wrap around my middle and pull me back a few feet to get me out of Bella's face. I didn't fight, knew there wasn't a point, but that didn't mean I was finished. "Aw, what's wrong, wittle Bewwa? Didn't get enough kicks out of hurting Jacob emotionally so you decided to start in on the rest of the Pack physically? You picked the wrong one to start with, you stupid bi-"

"N-no! I'm sorry, I didn't m-mean to, he just-" She was stuttering like an idiot, eyes even wider as her hands went up, shaking, in surrender.

A bitter laugh left my mouth. "Didn't _mean_ to? Who the hell waltzes in on land that isn't even theirs and proceeds to _accidentally_ slap someone in the face? Jared, let me go so I can show this bitch what an intentional hit looks like, it seems like she could use a couple pointers."

"Not gonna happen, B," Jared sighed. "Last thing you need is a murder charge."

"I think that's exactly what both of us want, actually," I spat, staring Bella down like her very existence was the bane of my own. "Why don't you go back to fucking a corpse and leave us the hell alone?"

A distant, haunted look suddenly flashed in Bella's dark eyes and I could have purred at the sight, watching her jaw work as she tried to find something to say. I was being awful, scratching open all the wounds that Jacob had been trying so hard to heal for the girl, but I couldn't care less if I tried. Those wounds wouldn't even be there if she had half the brain most average humans had. This girl loved the things that murdered my _mother_. Anger had always been something that got me in trouble when I was younger, and I guess I had found ways to stifle it. Today wasn't the day for Bella to be having slip up's though. Every time I considered calming down, the image of her hand coming back to smack Paul reddened my vision.

Paul had never gone into detail about his childhood, but he had given me enough to know that he was raised on heavy fists and bad names. The one man he was supposed to be able to trust more than anyone had taken away every sliver of Paul's innocence before he could even realize what the word meant. Now, out of nowhere, some nobody thinks it's alright to heartlessly hit him without any real reason behind it?

"Brynn," Emily said, a hand reaching up to touch my shoulder.

"Don't." The word was snapped out, but my eyes still lingered on Bella, letting everyone know just who I was truly pissed off at. "If Jacob wants to continue trying to worm his way into your severely fucked up heart, fine. That's his business. If you want to come to the house, to pretend to give a shit about anyone here when you're just trying to fill a hole that your little parasite of a fuck-buddy left, fine. Let them be fooled. But if you ever for a second think that you have a place here, you're wrong. Jacob might be fine with hanging out with a traitor, but that doesn't mean the rest of us are. I can see you for exactly what you are, Bella Swan, and it isn't something that I want anywhere close to my family, especially Jacob."

The silence that followed was deafening. Bella stared in silent fear, not knowing what to say, which was for the best. I had decided if Bella spoke to her again, I would likely throw the muffin tray at her before beating her face into a pulp. We were saved from trying to repair the conversation when the door was pulled open, Sam stilling in the doorway with Paul and Jacob behind him. Paul's eyes found me instantly over Sam's shoulder, taking in the way Jared's arm held my waist and where Bella stood, still and as tense as everyone else in the room, just before Jacob shoved past Sam and Paul.

"What the fuck did you do, Brynn?" He snapped, moving past everyone to make his way towards precious little Bella. She was shaking her head, assuring him that everything was fine, but I could still see the shakiness of her hands.

"Fuck off, Black, before I give you another beating," Paul warned, barely sparing the two a glance as he made his way towards me. My eyes didn't leave Bella, though; it was like every nerve in my being was trying to force me to lunge forward. This person loved the things that killed my _mother_.

A warm hand pressed against my jaw, the warmth around my waist leaving before another, more familiar one draped itself back over the area as a permanent replacement. My face was turned, eyes looking up into dark brown that shone with something that looked like pride mixed with a twist of worry. "Defending my honor, Price?" Paul whispered gentle and soothing, such a stark contrast to the way he just spoke to Jacob.

"I won't put my jacket in mud puddles for you, so don't ask," I muttered and then Paul smiled, and just like that my tension evaporated. I was back to being warm, safe, and exactly where I needed to be. It seemed that all the tension ended with mine, because Sam was pressing kisses into a giggling Emily's face, and Jared was sitting back into his chair and talking to Embry about something he saw on TV while at Kim's.

Paul wasn't stupid though; he knew that there was more to the situation than me defending him, and his arms wrapped around my middle tightly to hold me close. It wasn't words, but we never needed them anyway. I pressed a kiss to the disappearing scar just under his collarbone and moved to grab two muffins for him, smiling at the little nod Jared gave me. I knew what it meant- _we've got your back._

"Makes a lot more sense that you two are soulmates now," Embry joked, earning laughs from everyone but Bella and Jacob. _Good_, I thought. _She doesn't deserve to enjoy our company. _

Paul swallowed thickly around a large bite of muffin, leaning against the counter and moving me so that my back was pressed to his chest. Whether he just wanted to have me close or was worried I might take off after Bella again, the gesture was appreciated. "Did you really need any more proof?" He asked, dropping his head to nibble a dropped crumb off my shoulder.

"Come on, Paul," Embry teased, wiggling his eyebrows stupidly in a way he could only have learned from Jared, or vice versa. "We all know she's too hot for you."

There wasn't any saving him from the muffin that smashed into his hair, so fast and easy that I barely felt Paul's body move to throw it. Embry took the hit like a champ, too giddy about pissing Paul off to truly feel upset about getting muffin in his hair.

"Talk about her like that again and you'll need your jaw wired shut, supernatural healing and all," Paul said casually, and that toned seemed to make his words even more deadly. His arm around me tightened and successfully pulled me harder against his body, a low growl in his throat as he leaned forward to nip my ear. "Mine."

Embry was still in good spirits, though he didn't take his chances in arguing with his stronger pack mate and instead steered the conversation towards the redheaded vampire that they had still yet to catch or see again. Lack of inhuman abilities be damned, even I could detect the fear coming from the once again wide-eyed and scared Bella Swan in the corner.

"I know what she wants," she said, running a hand through her hair and shaking her head. So dramatic. "Me. Edward killed her mate and now she's hunting me, even though it doesn't matter anymore."

"Jesus Christ," I deadpanned, earning a shocked choke of laughter from Sam himself, though he tried to hide it with a cough. "Do you ever come around to bring good in people's lives, or are you some sort of sick twist on Saint Nick? What's your slogan? 'Be naughty, get worse'?"

Bella's hands dropped to her sides. "Listen, Brynn," she said softly, like I was some rabid animal she was trying to cage. I could feel Paul's fingers curl against my hip bone for a better grip on me. "I don't know what I ever did to make you hate me, but-"

"Oh, you do plenty just by breathing," I snapped, enjoying the way she seemed to curl in on herself even more.

The poster boy of the Friend Zone stepped in then, curling an arm around Bella's back as he shot me a dirty look. "Shut the fuck up, Brynn," he growled, beginning to coax Bella towards the door. "It's not like we don't have another vampire on our ass because of you."

I wasn't too prideful to say that the words didn't hurt because they did, tore at something deep inside me despite how stupid it was to even consider that an idea. Bella was an adult, making her decisions and basking in the consequences she received from them. I had been four days old, nothing more than a sleeping bundle in a car seat. We were nothing alike.

Paul didn't take the words as easy as I did; he was letting me go and slamming a bone-cracking fist into the front of Jacob's face. Chaos ensued, Sam shouting at the pair to get outside, Emily running to get bleach and baking soda for where the blood had gotten on her chair cushions, and Jared and Embry chasing after the fight.

That left two.

"Tell me why," I said evenly, still in my place with my back to the counter, the island and kitchen table both separating me from my target. "Why are you so incredibly stupid that you would find yourself attracted to something that isn't even alive?"

"I don't know what happened to you that involved them, Brynn, but you don't know Ed- you don't know the Cullens," Bella defended, almost surprising me at the single centimeter of spine she was showing.

"And you do?" I shot back, moving forward just enough to have the island to lean again. "Think really hard about your answer here. The leaving you defenceless in the face of someone wanting to kill you, the leaving you stranded in the middle of the woods, the leaving you period… I don't know about you, but I wouldn't be jumping into the cold, dead arms of someone that I knew could do that to me."

I could see her consider my words, but not more than she was considering defending them. I waited to see which part of her won, and wasn't surprised to hear her response. "They had to protect themselves."

The sigh of frustration left before I could stop it, and I was moving across the kitchen to grip Bella by the arm a little more harshly than called for. I pulled her to the screen door, giving her a full view of the two wolves snapping at each other, the silver one viciously biting at the scruff of the other's neck and throwing him to the ground.

"Do you see that?" I said, pointing at the scene as if she could still somehow not comprehend what I was saying. "_That_ is what someone who cares about you does. Were you surprised by Jacob standing up for you?"

"No," Bella whispered, her eyes still on the sight.

"Exactly. Because you fucking _know_ him."

Her head shook, finally looking at me again. "But I don't see him-"

"Holy shit," I groaned, my patience wearing thin when having to speak to a grown woman as if she were a toddler. "I'm not saying go skipping down the aisle with him, because quite frankly the fact that you're even in this house at all is disgusting enough to me. What I am saying is that you are now witnessing what someone you know does, what someone who genuinely cares about you does. Jake is out there getting his ass kicked because of you, carelessly tossing around hurtful shit to his friends because of you. And where the fuck are the Cullens at, Bella?"

Her eyes looked down at her hands, the slightest shake of her head the only response she was capable of delivering, apparently.

"Paul would never even think of leaving me just to save his own ass," I stated, looking through the screen door once again to see that Sam had somehow gotten the two to stop. "I had to ask him to go away when I needed space, and it nearly crushed him. And asking him to leave me if I was unprotected, being hunted? Forget about it. He would sooner have himself dead and me pissed at him than having me unsafe, and that is why your very existence pisses me off so much."

"You can't help who you love, Brynn," she whispered, all small and caved in on herself like a wounded animal about to be attacked again.

"God," I spat, the hand that still held her arm shoving away as if she had burned me. "You're pathetic Isabella Swan, and until you find a way to pull your shit together and be your own person instead of this lost little lamb he turned you into, that isn't going to change. You can't even say his fucking name. It's just a name!"

"What if it were Paul?" She finally asked, and was I imagining things or was there an actual spark in her eye, as if she had the leg up now? "If Paul just up and left you, would you be okay? Could you live without him?"

I laughed. I couldn't help it.

"The point of me talking to you instead of beating the shit out of you is to get it through your head that it would never be Paul," I said, clenching my hands at my side before I lost all of my ability to keep from recorrecting her apparent brain damage.

"Yeah, I thought that way once, too."

I sighed and counted to ten. I looked up at the ceiling and counted to ten. I looked at Bella and counted to ten.

And then I swung.

"Brynn!" Emily shouted, arms loaded with cleaning supplies as she stood in the entryway.

Bella hit the ground like a sack of potatoes, eyes wide in surprise as she looked up at me while her hand held where my fist had connected to her jaw. It wasn't a pretty sight, probably a little sad to anyone that had no idea what they were looking at, but it made me feel better nonetheless. I put my feet on either side of her hips and leaned down, able to hear the clatter of the Pack beginning to make their way towards the porch as the commotion registered to them.

"That was for comparing Paul to that shit-tick you called a boyfriend," I stated, leaning in close to ensure that she heard me. "And for hitting him."

Then I was being pulled away, Paul lacing his arms around my waist and holding me close against his front as he moved to go into the other room. Of course he had to pause when another voice spoke up, once again getting things more hectic than they had to be.

"Are you fucking crazy? Paul can take a hit from a 5'3 girl," Jacob spat.

"Doesn't mean he should fucking have to!" I was shouting, trying to swing myself around in Paul's arms to get at him now. The idiot may have superstrength on his side, but I doubt even that could save him from Brynn Price going full crazy on him.

"My moneys on Brynn," Jared mumbled, him and Embry stood against the kitchen wall as if the center of the room was a boxing ring.

"You expect me to bet against her? Yeah, right. Jacob is going on the ground next."

I could feel Paul's chest rumble but when I didn't hear a growl, I pulled back from his shoulder to look at his face. He was _laughing_. A quick glance around the room showed me the other guys were too, though Emily just looked a little confused as to what she should be doing. Jacob looked mad. Bella looked, well… kind of lit up.

"Paul, get her under control before I have to," Jacob warned, and Paul wasn't the only one that let out a growl at the threat.

Surprisingly enough, it had been a red-faced Bella that spoke up first. "You'll what, Jake? Go Beast Boy on her?" She asked, clearly sarcastic as she looked up at him.

"Yeah fucking right," Paul growled, his arms tightening around me as he looked over his shoulder to where Jacob was standing.

"I mean, come on," Bella continued. "She kind of had a point, right?"

My eyes narrowed in suspicion, wondering if Bella was simply a risk taker or if there was something she was getting out of suddenly siding with me. Of every theory, me actually getting through to her about her past relationship wasn't very likely to top my list.

"Let's go," Jacob murmured, pulling Bella to the door with an arm around her shoulders.

"Hey," I called, peeking around Paul's protective stance to look at her. "Don't come back until you can take a punch without falling on your ass."

"I won't," Bella returned, actually smiling at me now. "Maybe I'll even throw one back next time."

I rolled my eyes at that. She could throw all she wanted, but none of them would ever come close to landing. Stupidly, the idea of actually teaching her something came to mind before I crushed it down into nothing; Bella Swan was too suicidal to be taught anything about self defense, and she definitely wasn't going to be anywhere near me for long enough to build up her image in my eyes and have me offering.

"Oh, and Bella?" I said when she had stepped out the door, noting the way Jacob's jaw clenched as he held the door open so she could peer back in at me. I put on my friendliest smile, even making my eyes crinkle up in the corners as I did so. "If you ever touch Paul again, I'll cut your fucking hands off."

Jacob slammed the door close before I could even get a peek at Bella's reaction. The house had fallen silent aside from the chimes outside from the porch rattling from the door, making me startle when Jared and Embry broke into gleeful, full-belly laughter.

"Please, can we keep her?" Embry cackled, leaning over the table to give me a high-five.

Jared was right behind him. "This entire time, we thought Paul was the badass in this relationship. B, you just fucking knocked the girl on her ass!"

The attention was making me flush and I quickly looked over to where Emily and Sam were, amused smiles on both of their lips as Emily scrubbed at her cushion. It seemed now that any chance of another brawl to break out had been extinguished, Emily was able to relax in the company of her family once again.

"We didn't even get it on video," Embry sighed, letting his head fall into his hands as if this were truly the worst thing to ever happen to him. "Finally get to see some girl on girl action, like actual action, and I don't even get to watch it again later."

I picked up the closest thing to me- a wooden spoon- and prepared to thwap it at Embry's head when Sam was taking it from me, amusement lighting up his dark eyes. "I think that's enough violence from you today, B," he chastised, and hearing the new nickname Jared had given me fall from his mouth made me feel as if he had just patted my head.

"I don't know," Paul rumbled, voice rough where his lips suddenly tickled at the skin on the back of my neck. "I'm kinda liking angry Brynn."

If possible, my cheeks turned an even darker shade of pink at the words and the way Embry and Jared quickly diverted their gaze from me. Paul's thumbs had slipped up underneath the hem of my shirt and dragged his hands under with them, pressing into my ribcage. His hands were hot against my skin, starting up billions of little fires along my nerves and letting them dance and ignite the rest of me slowly.

"We should go," I said softly, though I didn't know if I was speaking to Paul or to the other's.

It didn't seem to matter; Paul was steering me towards the door at the same time that everyone had begun to bid us farewell, making me promise to come by tomorrow, which I didn't have a problem with.

"I don't want to go to my house," I said slowly, my eyes glancing up at Paul through my lashes as he braced a hand behind me before beginning to back out of Emily's driveway.

I watched his brows pull down in confusion. "Where you wanting to go?" He asked, looking down at me. I didn't know if he had just put two and two together or if the look on my face was more readable than I had expected, but I saw a flash in his eyes as they darkened.

"Your house."

**AN: Is that...lemon I'm smelling in the next chapter? Weird. Maybe I'm getting it confused with something else. Anyway, surprise! Brynn hates Bella, and quite frankly I think it's mainly because they both have 'B' names. But what the hell is Bella's deal, getting all happy after taking a punch to the jaw that knocked stars into her head? Maybe she saw Edward in his holy hallucinogenic body? I don't know, it's weird. They're weird. Tell me what you thought of this little throwdown when you review, review, review! **

**Quick PS: That last chapter had a spike in reviews that I was not expecting, and I am so eternally grateful for everyone that decided to get their tapping fingers out to give me a quick hello. You have my heart, all of you. **


	16. Bliss

**BLISS**

_Paul_

The light flicked on in the kitchen at exactly the same time that my heart plummeted to my stomach.

I know that the time for Brynn to see my house was inevitable, but I was also hoping that it would be much, much later in the future. I wasn't necessarily ashamed of the space because, really, the little work that I had done over the last few years had already improved it beyond recognition. However, an entire added on section that I was in the process of building meant an entire tarp plastered to a dry wall in the spare room for rain protection, the kitchen had paint swatches on every visible wall and cabinet, and the tile on the floor of the kitchen was only half way finished.

I carefully watched Brynn take it all in, her hands resting in her back pockets as she made her way around the kitchen, dragging a finger over the light wood island top with a small smile that I couldn't quite read. Her hands left her pockets to instead cross over her chest as she made her way to the wall that had most of the different colored paint streaks, looking at them with a delicate squint to her eyes as if she were deciding something.

"I like this one," Brynn said suddenly, a dainty finger pointing to an olive green swatch on the white wall. "With white cabinets. I always prefer white as an accent, not the star of the show. It's too cold of a color to be everywhere, you know?"

I nodded dazedly to what she was saying, my brain trying to follow her words and come up with a response while my heart was still stuck on the fact that this girl just waltzed into my home and was already making the space her own. The other swatches might as well have melted off the wall with her input, already knowing that the second I had time, I was going to be painting the space olive green with white cabinets and whatever the hell else she wanted me to do.

It wasn't that I was whipped into whatever she wanted from me (though, honestly, that wasn't far from the truth). If she had suggested lime green and navy accents, I would've laughed and teased her about leaving the home renovations to me. But her idea was good and, better than that, it was personal. Her favorite color was green, dark unlike the olive tone but still in the same family, and she was telling me what she would like it to look like. Seeing my girl in my house for the first time and watching her come up with little things she thought she would like to see could have caused my entire chest to implode on itself.

She was making this place into her ideal _home_.

Without looking back to make sure I was following, Brynn invited herself to explore more of the house, moving into the living room to look around. I followed silently, leaning in against the arched entryway to better watch her pace around the large entertainment area. I watched her eye the dark leather couch, a payment from a man who I had built a pull shed for in Port Angeles. It was a section paired with a recliner, and once again a small smile played at the edges of her lips.

"What're you thinking about?" I asked, unable to take the theories and curiosity bouncing around in my head.

"Honestly?" Surprisingly, the question had made her blush as she glanced at me. "I was thinking of how perfect this couch will be when we host Pack family nights. I can already see where everyone would sit."

"Yeah?" I asked, moving to stand behind her, wrapping my arms around her waist and hooking my chin on the top of her head. I didn't voice it, but hearing her talk about the Pack like family combined with the unspoken knowledge that she saw herself living here moved me in a place I didn't think possible of getting to. "Where would they sit?"

"Hm," Brynn hummed, leaning back into me and trailing her fingernails along my arms. "Emily would be in the kitchen with me to make sure I didn't mess up, of course. Sam would have this arm of the couch because being in the middle of the guys would drive him insane, obviously. Kim would be at the opposite end with the ottoman because Jared would insist that Best Friend Rights means he gets to prop his feet up. Embry would be next to Jared to try and get some leg room, too, which would naturally result in a tussle. Jacob would be sulking between him and Sam, because he's so good at sulking."

I chuckled my agreement, trying to mask the still present rage I had towards the Baby Alpha himself. We had been scuffle after scuffle the past few weeks, my annoyance for Bella's shitty company always giving him a reason to get pissed off at me, and I was running on so little sleep these days that it seemed the only time anyone was safe was when Brynn was around. The most recent of fights before today had been the worst; it was the first time Jacob's bitter and unwarranted thoughts had slipped up enough for me to catch on that he was putting blame on Brynn just as much as I was Bella.

It had been bad. Not even Sam's orders had been able to drag me off of the mutt, both my muzzle and his fur sticky and red from his blood. Jared, Embry, and Sam all had to pull me off when things got out of hand, Jacob's leg needed to be reset once he phased back. I hadn't felt a hint of remorse and a quick scan of the Pack's thoughts told me they agreed; Jacob was out of line, stupid for trying to compare Bella's choices to Brynn's unwanted happenstances at all. I let it roll off my shoulders after a few hours, telling myself he was just pissed off and talking shit, but then he said it in front of Brynn, in front of everyone, and the startled hurt in my imprint's eyes had been the last fucking straw.

Of course, my fight with Jacob had quickly been forgotten when I heard the unmistakable thud of a fist and something drop from inside the house. We had all dashed for the door, Embry pushing and shoving like he wanted to be first in line at some buffet, but he knew better than to get in front of me. When we got into Emily's, I couldn't help but chuckle at the sight of Brynn leaning over Bella, who was gripping her face and staring up at my imprint with shocked, fearful eyes.

Looking at her now, moving to head down the hallway, the image still seemed equally amusing as it was arousing. Outside of just being a guy who thought everything his girlfriend did was unbelievably attractive, the wolf part of me was heavily pleased with how quick she was to unnecessarily defend me.

I watched her take peeks into every room, locating the bathroom, the hallway closet, and the spare room, before she was making her way towards the last door on the right at the end of the hallway. Her sharp green eyes glanced at me mischievously, like she was snooping and sneaking despite my relaxed state as I walked after her, before she opened the door and stepped in. Out of interest, I watched her take in the room from the black dresser to the matching headboard, an eyebrow raising as she kicked off her boots and pushed them to the side.

"This is so you," Brynn mused when she caught me staring, ignoring my unasked question and flicking on the lamp at the bedside. It out the room a low light, casting shadows across the walls of our two silhouettes. "Put in so much detail and decor into everything you do for everyone else, but keep yours all bare."

"Hey, you never know," I shrugged, crossing the floor to stand in front of her and press a smiling kiss against her forehead. "Maybe I'm just waiting for a woman's touch."

I saw a glint in her eye, the same dark lust from in the car, as a hand ran down my chest almost teasingly.

"All you had to do was ask."

This was what the mischievous look had been about; she led me right into her trap.

My hands smoothed down her sides, feeling the ridges in her hip bones as her body stretched to allow her fingers to reach my hair. When they came up again it was beneath the thick material of her sweater, already able to detect that little hitch in her breath as my hands smoothed up her skin. I had figured that after the first few hiccups in her heartbeat and the way her breath would catch occasionally when I did things, I would start to get used to her undisguised reactions to me, but I had been wrong. I still hung on to every sharp inhale, every squeeze of her thighs, and every unsteady _thump_ that came from her chest just from catching me looking at her.

"You know I love you, right?" I breathed the words against the warmth of her throat, my thumbs digging into her sides at the way her head fell back for me, lips already parted before I had even gotten a taste of her.

I don't hesitate to give into what we both want, parting my lips against the fading red mark at the pulse point of her throat. I relished at the taste of her skin and the way her scent hung so strong there, wave after wave coming out with every hard hit of her pulse against my tongue. I heard her sigh, felt her fingers curl into my hair and tighten as my teeth nipped the sensitive flesh, and could've fallen apart already at the breathy way she spoke her next words.

"_I'm so in love with you, Paul Lahote." _

I knew, had known for so long, but hearing her say it was something else entirely. It was almost like the words had shifted something inside of me as I pulled back from her throat, kissing a string up her chin and capturing her lips with my own. Every time I got to kiss Brynn felt like a leisure I wasn't worthy of, but I was more than greedy and selfish with this one. My tongue delved past her always so willing lips, tasting and taking everything I could from her and swallowing every noise I could drag out of her throat.

I only pulled away when her heartbeat so quickly against my chest that I knew she needed to catch her breath, licking my lips at the quick, quiet breaths she took. My hands beneath her sweaters pulled further up her body until her arms lifted to let me discard the fabric to the floor. I had seen Brynn undress plenty of times, more than once with her raising a challenging brow at me from over her shoulder as she pulled the clothing off, but seeing was nothing compared to being able to touch her like this.

My fingers hooked in the waistband of her jeans to push her back a step so I could drink her in properly. A dainty, black bralette clung to her skin and before I even had the chance to reach for it, Brynn was pulling it up and over her head, completely unabashed as her lustful, dark eyes landed on mine. A small smirk curled at her lips as she looked at me, undoubtedly able to tell just what she was doing to me already, fingers dancing down the front of her body before going to the button of her jeans.

"Ah, ah," I interrupted and it was my turn to smirk as the thick, rough way I spoke made her heart jump. "It's my turn."

With my fingers still curled into her jeans I pulled her towards me, growling low as her bare chest pressed flush against mine. I turned us so I could ease her on to the mattress, jerking my head up slightly in a silent order for her to move up the mattress. At the sight of her moving back my wolf growled again, the almost-chase appealing to him, and her eyes were wide as they found mine, the explicit excitement the sound gave her apparent in those telling eyes.

My eyes stayed on hers as my hands undid her jeans skillfully, smirking once more at the impatient way her hips raised before I had even started to pull on the denim. Just to piss her off, I made the entire thing torturously slow for both of us, inching them down bit by bit until she whimpered -fucking whimpered- and the sound was enough for me to break enough to send the damn jeans to the floor.

"Oh, fuck," I groaned, leaning back on my knees just to get a better view of her.

My eyes raked over her hungrily, tracing over long, tan arms to her uncovered chest. Her breasts were a few shades lighter than the rest of her body and I had to experience true restraint to hold myself back from leaning forward just to take a taut, nude pink nipple between my lips. Somehow I managed it, eyes following down her sunkissed torso to where a black, lacy straps clung to her hips, the tiniest pink bow taking place on a spot I was soon to press my lips to. The smooth, bronze skin of her legs flexed as she squeezed her thighs together shyly.

"Don't," I warned, reaching out a hand to pull her knee and not stopping until it hit the mattress, spreading her legs open for me as I fit my body between her thighs. I pressed a forearm into the bed beside her face, keeping my weight off of her as I looked into her eyes. "Don't hide from me. You're _mine_."

The words, or maybe it was how I said them, had an unpredictable reaction from her as her knees came up to squeeze my hips, Brynn's lower body pressing herself against me. My head dropped at the friction, my lips pressing open-mouthed kisses into her chest, along the swell of her breast, before I was finally getting my mouth on her. My tongue flicked over her nipple and her body arched into mine immediately, a sharp gasp leaving her as I gently slid my teeth along the bud.

"Paul," she whimpered, the sound going straight down my body, as my fingers replaced my mouth so I could pay attention to the other. She was so fucking _sensitive, _hips bucking against mine with every flick of my tongue or twist of my fingers.

Then I smelt her.

I had been so caught up in the sight of her that I hadn't even noticed, and now it consumed me. It was heavy in the air, the sweet and tangy scent of her arousal the only thing that was able to have me pulling back from her. I slid my hands down the sides of her body as I went, thumbs taking one last chance to press into her breasts as I did so. I couldn't help it; she was so fucking small, so fragile, that her body fit into my hands easily.

"You have any idea," I started in a rasp, index fingers hooking into either sides of the last piece of clothing she had on. "How fucking good you smell right now? Could eat you alive."

"Tell me," Brynn pleaded because of fucking course my girl, who could get wet at the sound of my voice in the morning, would want to hear any filthy thing I had to tell her. Her cheeks were flushed as she pushed herself up on her elbows to watch me, even lifting her hips as I pulled the flimsy fabric from her and down her legs.

"What do you want to hear, baby?" I asked her, sucking at the sensitive skin on the inside of her thigh. "You want me to tell you how I'm going to take you apart right here, how I'm not gonna stop until I have these pretty thighs shaking?" I moved further up, pressing another hot kiss into the crease of her thigh and letting my mouth hang dangerously close to where she wanted me most, close enough to make her stop breathing, before I was repeating the tease along the other thigh.

"Please," Brynn pleaded, trying to inch her body further down to cut the time I was taking.

"'Please?'" I smirked, sucking a mark into her flesh before pulling back. "Tell me what you want, Brynn. Can't give it to you if I don't know."

Genuine frustration had my girl falling back against the pillows, making me have to bite back my endeared amusement. So eager to be talked to, but so hard to get talking.

"C'mon, baby," I crooned, hands curling around her thighs to tug her body down the bed farther to get her closer to me.

"I want," the girl started, timid and shy and making the pure predator of an animal inside me perk up instantly at the show of vulnerability. She didn't say anything more.

I pressed a fond kiss against her knee, mumbling something about her being cute when she was shy. I didn't even think she would hear me, let alone take the words as an outright challenge. She was suddenly propped on her elbows once more, eyes lit with determination after hearing what I had said.

"I want," she said again, but this time the words were practically a purr, hips raising beneath me once again. "You to fuck me," she continued in a low, sultry voice that I hadn't ever heard her use before. She wasn't finished yet as she sat up, flexible body curving as she leaned forward to brush her lips across mine just once. "With your tongue."

And really, who the fuck was I to deny Brynn Price anything?

She laid back as I leaned down, pressing one last kiss to her thigh before I was finally giving into her. My thumbs pushed her skin apart, giving me a view of every last piece of her, and I felt my cock twitch at the sight. She was fucking glistening with want, pink skin slick with arousal and I didn't waste anymore time before my tongue was against her, trailing a thick, greedy line over her. The taste of her was somehow so sweet, so addicting, and a possessive sound left my throat. Brynn's body completely shuddered in my arms, legs hooking themselves over my shoulders as her toes curled against my back while I explored every last inch of her.

"Oh, my God," she gasped when I dragged my tongue against her clit, a harder tremble wracking through her body as her hips lifted greedily against my mouth. I pressed my arm across her lower abdomen, keeping her still, and she dug her nails into my skin in response.

I was mapping out every little bit that made her arch and shudder and once I knew, had it memorized like a song, I was relentless. I pulled her to the brink before letting her sit and simmer, just enjoying the taste of her with my eyes on her the whole time as her lips parted, her eyes fell shut, and her body wound itself tight all over again. It wasn't until my tongue had slipped into her, the taste so much stronger and completely compelling, that I finally let her fall apart completely.

And what a fucking sight it was.

Small, fragile fists gripped the sheets as my name fell from her lips, her thighs tightening around my head as her back lifted ever so slightly from the tension and the pleasure. Her voice was so high, so loud and unashamed with her own pleasure, and I let my tongue work her through it, only pulling away with the shaking in her thighs had subsided and her voice had fallen to a soft, long hum of pure pleasure.

Somewhere inside of me, my wolf howled at the sight of her and the knowledge that _I_ did that.

Brynn's legs fell from my shoulders and I was about to move, to fall over her with gentle kisses, hold her close and tight, when I felt her toes dig at the waistband of my shorts. I smirked, looking from my shorts to her face, a focused pull to her brow.

"Off," she demanded, lips in a damn near pout, so effortlessly being the prettiest thing this universe and every other one had ever had the chance to create.

I moved off the bed to stop out of my shorts, her eyes shamelessly watching me. All the times I had gotten to see little hints and pieces of her while she changed and she hadn't ever seen all of me before. I could tell she was getting her fill now, even delayed coming back to her out of the enjoyment of seeing her eyes go wide and round before she was masking her expression.

Brynn met me at the edge of the bed, hands curling around my neck to bring my mouth to hers. I went easily, easing her back down against the sheets as a hand sent goosebumps up her thigh. Her lips fell open beneath mine as I curled a finger inside her, her legs parting for me to do whatever I wanted.

"More," she begged against my neck, my eyes closing as I felt her suck against the skin, making me wish for once that I didn't heal too fast to enjoy her mark on me. "Want you, please."

The words made me groan, my grinding against the bed to get some friction. "Trust me, baby," I growled, adding another finger into her heat and enjoying the way she momentarily blanked from pleasure. "I'm going to fuck you until you can't fucking take it anymore, but I gotta make sure you can handle it first."

"I can," Brynn was quickly promising, lips pursed as I teased at her G spot before fucking into with my fingers again. "Please, just want to be filled by you."

The words were so filthy and lewd coming from her lips that I was caving into her, slowly taking my fingers out and bringing them to my mouth to savor the taste of her as I grabbed a pillow. Her fingers curling around my wrist had me looking back at her, worried for a moment she might be nervous, but her gaze was heavy and just _sex_ as she pulled my hand, my fingers leaving my mouth before Brynn was sticking the two digits into _hers_.

Green eyes watched me, wide and seemingly innocent, as I felt the slow stroke of her tongue slide from my bottom knuckle all the way up the tips of my fingers, cheeks hollowing out sinfully.

She was going to fucking kill me.

I watched her intensely, blindly grabbing a pillow and coaxing it under her hips to make sure she didn't get uncomfortable at any point. Looking away, I gripped the base of my thick, hard shaft and pressed it against her, teasing the head along the wet pink skin. I felt her tongue stop before the heat of her mouth disappeared, looking up to see her biting her lip and slowly rocking her hips once to successfully press the tip of me against her entrance.

"Baby," I groaned, pressing a hand to the mattress near her head whilst the other gripped the back of one of her thighs, holding her open for me as I slid in just a few inches deep. My eyes looked over her face, catching the way her teeth but into her bottom lip harder with her eyes closed, and when I didn't catch any sign of pain, I bottomed out inside of her.

A lot of shit happened then. The first was the intense feeling of pure bliss, and not just the kind people talk about when they have a good fuck. This was genuine peace and pleasure all wrapped up in a little bow, Brynn's eyes fluttering open to share that same feeling with me. The second thing to happen was the soft, content sound that came from my imprint's lips as she reached forward to pull me closer. The third was the feeling of her muscles tightening around me in a fucking vice that had my head dropping for a second.

Slowly, I pulled out a few inches and pressed back into her, earning a swear from Brynn's lips. "You're so fucking _tight_," I groaned, thrusting into her harder this time and reveling in the way her nails dug into the skin of my back, keeping me close.

"All for you," she breathed, so incredibly unaware of the pure possessive aggression the words stirred up in me.

I pulled all the way out before slamming back into her, earning a louder moan of my name and a deeper dig at my back. Once again, I despised the fact that I'd heal quickly, knowing that as I continued taking her apart, there were more times than once that she had broken skin. The need to be claimed by her and her by me in a permanent way was so intense inside of me and I tried to curb the urge with more marks along her chest as we both drew close. My hand left her knee in favor of wrapping my arms around her, pressing her flushed against my chest, skin against skin, as I felt her heels dig into my lower back and press me deeper, closer, both of us hungry for as much contact as we could get.

"You're so fucking beautiful," I whispered, feeling the resounding shake the effect of my words had on her as her nails dragged up my back and into my hair.

One of my hands unwound from her and I could feel her hold tighten on me in response, so clearly against the idea of being apart from me. I soothed her by pressing a hand into the prominent bone of her hip, pushing her body down so every thrust hit her deeper, harder, completely claiming every piece of her as my own. The shaking in her legs started with her thighs where they wrapped tightly around me, the first warning sign that she wasn't going to be capable of holding on much longer. I encouraged it, snapped my hips against hers at the angle that had her head falling back and her mouth falling open in a picture that was so beautiful and unaware, it reminded me of religion.

"I'm-" my girl gasped, tightening every little muscle in her body as her body lifted into mine.

"C'mon, baby," I urged, my voice a caress against the shell of her ear, and it was all the motivation she needed.

Full-body tremors shot through her, giving me a new definition for the word that had so clearly been a warning sign for the wolves. Now it was something I watched greedily, my pace getting quick and uneven as she came undone beneath me. Her nails bit lines down my back as she cried out, shaking legs wounding around me somehow even tighter than they had been previously. They pushed me deeper into the wet, tight heat of her, feeling her body squeeze around me as another series of pleasure went through her, before the white fire that had been building itself in the pit of my stomach finally exploded.

My hands gripped her as I came, trying to be mindful of how fragile she was compared to me but still knowing there would be marks and bruises to show where I had been. My head dropped to her neck as I spilled inside of her, feeling her hips lift against mine unknowingly, _greedily_, as my teeth bit into the skin of the junction connecting her neck to her shoulder. It was that same possessive aggression and the desire to have me on her skin permanently that led my teeth to break the skin before suddenly, without either of us moving, a whole new round of pleasure and bliss ran through us.

Time seemed unreal as we held each other like that, minutes or hours or days passing by as my tongue licked the blood from her wound and her body stayed tightly laced around mine. At some point we came back to our own heads and I could feel when she did as she relaxed against me, lips trailing kisses along my jawline and neck. I pulled back to look at her, to make sure that her eyes were bright and she looked happy, but I stopped short at the sight.

Brynn was glowing, golden skin flushed with heat as she looked at me. Her eyes were bright, definitely, but they were so starry eyed that it was hard to tell if she was even looking back at me or through me, all unfocused and glossy. Her lips were the darkest I'd ever seen them and I knew we both shared part in that; my teeth had clung to the skin just as often as hers had. My girl was completely and entirely fucked out and her expression said it all, a small and giddy smile on her lips as my thumb ghosted over her bottom lip.

"I feel weak," she giggled, almost sounded slurred with the amount of pure serotonin she was witnessing.

"Yeah?" I chuckled, slowly easing out of her and laughing once more at the way her face scrunched and her hands tried to hold me to her, hating the empty feeling that followed. "Gonna go grab a towel, okay?"

Maybe it was stupid, but the last thing I wanted to do right now was be somewhere she wasn't, even for a split second. I pressed my lips against her, able to taste the metallic hint of blood that she'd brought out of her bottom lip, before I was moving to the bathroom. I wet a corner of the towel with warm water before enclosing the bit in my hand, not wanting Brynn to feel discomfort from anything cold. Slowly, I cleaned her of anything that had dripped down her thighs or caught in her lips. I watched her belly tense suddenly before hot liquid dropped from her and on to the bed.

_Me_.

When I had finished, making sure to ask if she felt good, I tossed the towel into a basket near my dresser and was once again draping myself around the small girl. Brynn was absolutely content with the attention, bringing a knee up over my hip in our familiar routine as her ear pressed just over my heart.

"You okay?" I mumbled, my hand trailing up her back to massage slow, small circles into the skin.

"Mm, are you kidding?" she hummed, making me smirk as her eyes lifted to meet mine. My hand ran up her neck, squeezing there instead, and as my thumb ghosted over the bite mark I'd left in her tan skin I could feel her press into me. "_That_," she gasped, blinking up at me through bleary eyes. "Is different."

"Masochist," I teased, assuming the reaction was from the pain that had to be coming from the mark. I hadn't intended to, but it was deep and already bruising, dried blood clinging to where one of my incisors had sunken in.

"No, it's not the pain," Brynn shook her head, lifting her own hand to tenderly press at the wound. Her brows furrowed as she continued her touches. "Touch it again."

I did as told, lightly grazing a finger over the mark and feeling her once again press against my leg, her eyes falling closed for a second that was indifferent to how she looked just a few moments before, mid-orgasm.

"Probably just an imprint thing," I shrugged, though my mind was reeling with possibilities and theories. I tried not letting the fact that speaking the word imprint out loud and voicing the permanent and unparalleled bond we had a strong effect on me. "I'll ask Sam about it, see what he knows."

We settled into a comfortable silence, my eyes watching her phone as she scrolled through different apps and answered text messages from Kim, most of which were in all caps and talking about 'UNBELIEVABLE WOLF SHIT' and 'I GET HIM FOREVER', something I couldn't help but chuckle, only to actually laugh when Brynn stuck an elbow into my side in defense for her friend.

"I need to start bringing clothes over," she mumbled suddenly, glancing around my room with her eyes as her chin stayed hooked on my chest. "'And there's a drawer of my things at your place'," she sang, and I didn't have to ask to know that it was some Taylor Swift song. I didn't mind, honestly; her eyes always got so bright whenever she thought something we did matched up well enough with a lyric and I found it too cute to tease her too much about it.

"You can leave these here," I reassured with a devilish grin, reaching a hand towards the ground to pull up the tiny black lace of her thong.

"Paul!" Brynn scolded, reaching for it but missing as I pulled my hand out of reach. "What are you going to do, frame them?"

"Not a bad idea, Price," I pretended to consider, nodding my head with a shrug. "Sentimental, nice to look at."

"Yeah, our kids would love that piece of decoration," she scoffed, missing the way my heart hammered hard enough that I was nearly certain it beat fractures into the entirety of my ribcage.

"Thinking about kids already?" I teased after clearing my throat, trying to play coy despite my mind on a reel of _holyshitholyshitholyshit_.

I could feel the flush in her cheeks heating up my chest, her fingers picking nervously at a loose thread in the pillowcase next to my head. "I mean, yeah?" Brynn said, her voice pitching up at the end to make it sound like a question. "Don't you?"

I could, too. It wasn't the first time I had considered a future of family for Brynn and I; the very first time I had ever considered kids at all was in the cafeteria the day I met her, when my eyes landed on hers and the welcomed, intrusive thoughts began playing through my mind. I could picture it even more clearly now, with high chairs in the kitchen, Sam and Emily's children playing on the living room floor along with ours and Jared's as we all watched some game on the screen. Pink dresses, blue button ups, late nights and long naps all together. It wasn't just seeing it though, it was actively wanting it. The idea of Brynn pregnant, stomach swollen with _my_ baby, was a desire I had that was suddenly ignited at the knowledge she would some day want it, too.

"Yeah, I do," I answered honestly, fingering a strand of her hair off her shoulder before running the pads down her naked back and back up.

The answer seemed to be all she wanted, sleepy eyes squinting with crow's feet as she smiled at me before leaning her head against my chest. I could feel the way her body relaxed against me, could smell myself all over her as she moved her hair out of her face. It was a reminder of the fact that she was mine, wholefully and unconditionally belonging to me the same way I belonged to her. My hands pressed against her spine to bring her closer, hearing the little huff she made at being squeezed before she was going lax against me once more.

"I love you," I told her, the most honest thing that had ever come out of my mouth.

I thought maybe she had fallen asleep, but she picked up her head enough to send me one last, genuine little smile. "I love you, Paul," she whispered before resting her head back down.

I reached over to pull the cord to the lamp, shutting us in darkness aside from the pale moonlight that slipped through the sheer curtains over the window. It made her skin look somehow more fragile, draining the color and turning it into a cool tone, and an uneasy feeling rose in me at the sight. My hand slid up her back to her neck, softly checking the pulse in her throat despite the slow, even breaths that were hitting my neck from her parted lips. She was safe, I reminded myself, resisting the urge to slip away and lock every single door and window the home had.

I was here, and she was safe. I let that thought be the reassurance to drive my eyes into closing, and the warmth of her skin and her breaths were what pulled me into sleep that night.

**AN: Okay, so that happened. Woof, right? This "bow chicka wow wow" chapter is dedicated to KamAnDa because I know she's been waiting for it, and I hope it didn't disappoint. I was going to ask whether or not you guys would prefer this in Brynn or Paul's perspective, but I figured you would all say "why not both" so I just went with what felt right. Besides, Brynn's thoughts short circuited halfway through getting undressed, anyway. However, I think we all know that with peace and love comes the promise of bloodshed, so I hope you guys aren't getting too comfortable in your seats as you watch this play out. Don't forget we still have Victoria and Adrian out there somewhere, and who knows what will happen once the Cullens get back. Tell me your thoughts when you review, review, review! **


	17. Bruise

**BRUISE**

_Brynn _

I woke up to the sun shining over me, warm despite the late March weather of the Olympic Northwest. Blinking, it took me a second to recognize the room I was in, smiling to myself when the memories came to me in full force as I leaned back to feel the warmth of the body next to me. When I didn't, my eyebrows pulled down in confusion as I turned to face Paul's side of the bed, empty but still holding a lingering warmth that told me he hadn't been gone for long.

I took the moment of privacy to think about last night, my hands running over my hips to squeeze at where Paul's had, up to my chest to try to imitate the warmth of his mouth against me. It wasn't my first time, but it had been the first time with someone I loved, someone I knew had feelings for me that were just as strong if not more so. Maybe that was why the memories played like a montage of a romance film in my mind, with low lighting and longing kisses and hushed breaths. It had been so _Paul_, equally romantic as it was teasing and smug, making my head spin with every smirk, kiss, and intense gaze he gave to me.

And then there was the mark, which still seemed to burn in the most comforting of ways. I had been too content and sleepy last night to relay to Paul just what the mark felt like, but running my fingers over it now and feeling the jagged edges that his teeth had left in my skin, it was all too clear. I _felt_ different, but not in the typical way a girl does when she gives herself to someone she loves for the first time. No, this was a physical and emotional rearrangement in which Paul was in the center of it all.

Even now, pressing my hand to my chest and letting my eyes close, I felt as if I could feel his lightheartedness and good mood from wherever he might be. Before, I had been able to feel the hurt and longing he had for me, like the bond was letting me know whenever we were in the wrong place. Now, there was a constant thrum of energy from me to him, like an electric wire running from one telephone pole to the next.

Finally deciding to join Paul in the real world, I ambled out of the room with my arms straightening out a shirt of his that I welcomed myself to from his dresser, smiling as I went. It felt so natural to be here, like that idea of home that I had been unable to place everywhere else, even at the house I currently lived in, didn't fit anywhere else because it was meant to belong _here_. I hadn't asked Paul yet, but I was hoping that he would let me help out in the remodeling, painting while he built or putting up pictures and decor around the house to make it seem more lived in and less...waiting.

I found him in the kitchen, talking to someone out of my view as he stirred something around in a pan at the stove. He was shirtless, light grey sweats hanging low on his hips with his hair messily tousled on his head, making me catch my breath just at the sight of him. I couldn't see his face, but I could imagine the smirk in his voice as he spoke.

"Hey, baby," he greeted, having heard the stutter in my heart. He turned to face me, proving my theory on his smirk to be true as my skin grew hot under his gaze when it raked me from head to toe and back up again.

"Good morning, sexy," I replied, the company forgotten as I did a little skip to get to him, feet pattering against the unmatched tile. My hands slid up his arms as they circled my waist, reaching up to curl around the back of his neck.

His hands instantly slid down to the hem of the shirt to keep it tugged down as it rode up with my stretch, eyes glancing over my shoulder before looking back down at me. My lips pursed for a kiss, receiving one before turning around to see who was here.

Jared and Embry sat at the table making kissy faces at each other at Paul and I's expense, chuckling when they caught me staring. I glared at them without heat, keeping my place in front of Paul as he returned to whatever smelt so good on the stove. A quick glance told me it was french toast, and I must've made some sound of approval because Paul laughed, kissing my head and reassuring me that the first two were for me.

"So, Brynn," Embry sighed, leaning back in his chair and folding his hands behind his head. "Now that you've decided to feed the beast, can we expect breakfast at Mama Paulie's more often?"

"As long as you don't care that we fucked on the table, you can come over for breakfast any time," I promised, giggling as he glanced suspiciously at the wood before glowering at me. I folded my arms behind me, wrapping them around Paul's back as I leaned into him. "Kim texted me, Jare," I informed, tilting my head so Paul could nuzzle at my neck.

I don't think I've ever seen Jared's attention caught so fast, glancing up at me from where he had been spinning a penny on the table. "What'd she say?" He asked, nervousness clear in his voice and earning taunting chuckles from both of the other boys.

"She was very enthusiastic about the imprint," Paul piped up, knowing that I was going to drag out that detail and sparing his brother the torment. In apology for ruining my fun, he pressed a kiss to my shoulder over where his bite mark was, sending a sudden thrill down my spine. "Was talking about you being hers forever, actually."

"You're lying," Jared said cautiously, eyeing Paul and then looking at me. "Is he lying?"

"No," I grumbled, the heat from the bite wearing off as the annoyance at losing my chance to fuck with Jared came back. "I'll even show you the texts, hold on."

I ran to the bedroom, keeping my hands at my sides so the shirt didn't swing up and give anyone a free show along the way. I stepped into a pair of Paul's boxers, too comfortable to force myself back into yesterday's jeans, when something caught my eye on the windowsill. It was a necklace, the sunlight glinting off of it where it sat in the window.

Battling between curiosity and the fact that I trusted Paul so there was no reason to snoop, I took longer than I needed to in the bedroom. I heard a bark of laughter come from down the hall followed by the sound of something- or someone- getting hit. I took their distraction as the universe telling me to have at it, and was quickly making my way over to the jewelry. The necklace was on a thin golden chain with a dainty, tiny golden 'P' charm dangling on it.

There was a sickening twist in my stomach as I glanced down at the initial, jealousy and possessiveness suddenly building up from my gut to my throat. It was ridiculous and I knew that; I had been told of Paul's past rendezvous by multiple people and Paul himself was one of them. It was one thing to know that girls had been here, had laid in the very same place that I had been in last night, but it was something else entirely to see proof of it. Those thoughts only made that sick feeling grow, making me wonder why a girl would walk around wearing his initial on her neck if there was nothing more between them than lust.

_Maybe her name is Polly! Or Peggy! Or Petunia!_ an annoyingly hopeful voice said in the back of my head. _Phoebe is a common one! _

"Baby, what're you doing? Em's about two seconds away from taking your plate." Paul's voice asked from the doorway, a smile so clear in his tone that it made me even angrier.

"Nothing!" I turned quickly, hands against the windowsill in an attempt to keep the necklace hidden.

"Right," he snorted, walking deeper into the room to make his way to me. I shifted to the side slightly in hopes of blocking the jewelry from him, but a hand to my side had me stepping away to let him look at it. "Snooping?" He asked, and I couldn't tell the emotion in his voice to know how he felt right now.

"It was in plain sight," I mumbled, shrugging my shoulders before looking down at my hands to pick at the nail polish on my thumbs.

"Hey," Paul crooned, his hands coming to cup my face as the gold chained hung from his thumb. "I wouldn't care if you did snoop, Price. Just wish you'd ask me about shit instead of getting in that stubborn head of yours."

"Okay, so?" I asked slowly, eyes glancing up at him and then looking at the necklace before finding those warm, dark gold eyes once more.

"It was my mom's," he said softly, taking the hand holding the necklace from my face so he could look at the fragile accessory. "When I had first started phasing, I broke a bunch of shit in my room in the middle of one of my temper tantrums, so I left this out as something to ground me."

_Stupid. Idiot. Dumbass. _My brain was shouting at me, the feeling of guilt swarming me just as quickly as the feeling of relief was. The nausea I had witnessed before at the idea of Paul having lied to me was melting away like it hadn't ever even been there, leaving me with a shy tint to my cheeks as I shook my head.

"God," I groaned, my hands lifting to cover my face. "I'm such a moron."

"Stop it," he chuckled, leaning down to press a kiss against my forehead before prying my hands away from my face. When I looked at him, he was holding the necklace out to me in offering. "Take it."

"No, absolutely not," I refused, trying to shove his hand away, but he held strong. "Paul, that's all you have left of her."

"Exactly, and it isn't like you'll ever be somewhere I'm not," he reasoned. "I don't have a wedding ring from family to give you, some recipes from her to pass down to you or whatever weird shit moms are supposed to give their son's imprint, I skipped that part of _Wolf Lessons 101_. This is it." His hands went to either side of my neck as he unclasped the necklace, taking a second to get it reclasped behind the back of my neck before he let his hands fall to my hips. "I didn't know my mom well aside from the knowledge most kids have about their mom, but I know for a fucking fact that she would've adored you."

I felt the traitorous sting to the back of my eyes as the threat to cry came on. I couldn't help it; the idea of possibly being accepted by the woman that Paul held in such high regards, regardless of everything he had to go through on his own, was enough to make me accept the gift. Raine Lahote was a woman I thought about often whenever I was with Paul, wondering if he got the way his nose sloped from her or if his habit of talking in his sleep had possibly been something passed down. I hated knowing I wouldn't ever be able to giggle over baby pictures and baby Paul stories with the woman, but having the reassurance from her son that she would've loved me made me feel almost welcomed in a way.

"Besides," he added, efficiently pulling my attention back to him, and I could hear his voice dip down into something lower, teasing with an edge to it. "Kinda like the idea of you wearing my initial around your neck."

An obnoxious knock at the door had us pulling away to look at Jared, who's eyes were covered with his fingers split so he could see through them. It was an interruption that I normally would have laughed at, but the tenderness of Paul speaking about his mother was something I wasn't witness to often. Getting it cut short had me narrowing my eyes at Jared to let him know that he was being annoying, though I doubted he cared much about that fact. I thought about whether breaking my hand on hitting him was worth getting my point across, but figured he would just laugh at me if I tried.

"Embry burnt the second batch of French Toast," Jared explained, resulting in a loud cry of 'That was you, you piece of garbage!' from the kitchen. "Okay, I burnt the second batch of French Toast, but Embry ate all of B's."

"I seriously regret opening the door to you two right now," Paul said, face slack as he looked at his best friend. "Wasn't supposed to be taking Emily's place this morning."

"Aw," Jared crooned, walking backwards as Paul advanced on him. I followed behind, snickering as Jared took off for the kitchen. "We didn't mean to ruin your romantic morning, Paulie! How were we supposed to know you got laid last night?"

"I knew," Embry grumbled as we entered the kitchen, slathering bread in an egg mixture. "I was on patrol. Pretty sure the fucking neighbors heard, too."

I was about to take a seat at one of the bar stools on the island when I caught the flashing green-lit time on the stove. My eyes widened, reaching for my pocket to grab my phone before remembering that I didn't have it on me.

"Is that the right time?" I asked, gesturing at the taunting numbers.

"Oh, shit," Paul groaned, moving to grab his keys and head to the door, a piece of plain french toast dangling from his mouth. "You've got an hour to get ready and I'll drive you to where you need to go. That enough time?"

"It's going to have to be," I sighed.

Somehow, in the midst of everything that had come crashing down on me, the world decided to give me a break when my father and I went to eat at a local diner. The 'HELP WANTED' sign was the first thing I noticed outside of the restaurant, and I was quick to ask the woman behind the counter for an application. I had filled it out and handed it back before our food had even arrived, and she was promising me an interview later in the week.

Later in the week was today, and I was running incredibly late.

"Woah, where's the fire?" Jared asked, claiming the seat I had been about to take.

"Job interview," Paul mumbled through chewing, back against the screen door to hold it open for me.

"Oh, cool! Where at?" Embry asked, as if we weren't in an obvious hurry.

"Some diner," Paul answered for me again, just before I ran off to grab my phone and boots from his bedroom. "Didn't say where, but it's nearby."

I got back in time for Jared to ask what diner it was, making me huff as I shoved my boots on. "The one near the clinic," I said. "Beck and Call's, or something."

It was like everyone in the room suddenly relaxed, Paul even stepping back inside and grabbing a plate while Jared rolled his eyes and turned to start talking to him about their new patrol schedule. Embry was chuckling and pulling out his phone, something I was surprised he still had considering how often he seemed to be complaining about breaking them. The unexpected change in the atmosphere left me appalled, my jaw actually open as I looked at the three of them.

"Excuse me," I exhaled, straightening in my beautiful attire of a baggy shirt, boxers, and leather boots. "But what happened to the previous hustle?"

Embry held up a finger as he pressed the phone to his ear, stepping aside to let Paul take over the French Toast task once more and coming to stand next to me.

"Ma," he said around a mouthful of food, making me shake my head at him in silent reprimand. "Why didn't you tell me the girl applying was Brynn Price?"

Finally, I understood the sudden lack of rush to get me out the door. Paul glanced over his shoulder at me, smirking as he saw me deflate back against the wall. I shook my head at him; why did no one tell me Embry's mom owned the place? Beck and _Call's._ Duh.

"She's hired," Embry was saying, throwing an arm over my shoulder once Paul turned his back to us once again. "My biology partner, remember? Yeah, completely responsible. Should've seen her when she realized she was about to be late, ha." There was murmuring on the other line that he nodded along to, his hand absently ruffling in my hair as he listened. "I'm with her now, yeah. Said she can't wait to meet her future mother-in-law."

The idiot's mouth had Paul twisting around, ready to chuck an egg-slathered piece of bread in our direction when he caught the stance Embry had me in. He scowled, reaching across the island to tuck a finger into my shirt and drag me towards him, much to Embry's amusement.

"Quit," Paul muttered at his Pack brother who just flipped him off, still talking to his mom. Paul took to slipping his hands under my arms to completely drag me across the top of the island until I was sat in front of him, legs caging him in as I giggled at his ridiculous antics. "You smell like him," he grumbled, scrunching his nose cutely as if the idea offended him.

"Yours," I reassured, curling my legs tightly around his back to bring him closer to me.

Breakfast, as dysfunctional as it started out to be, was overall a good time. Embry reassured me that there was no interview required and that I would start on Monday, promising that the head honcho was already sold on me. We sat around the table and ate during chaotic conversation, occasionally one of them jumping out to act out something beyond theatrical and ending in an uproar. It was around eleven in the morning when they finally left, Paul and I right behind them so I could go home and grab clothes and shower before we would head back to his place.

My dad wasn't home when we got there, and I guess that Paul decided that meant he could risk the wrath of James Price if it meant being able to press me against the shower wall and retrace the bruises and love bites on my skin with his lips and letting me know exactly how he expected the morning to go before our unexpected guests had shown up. His lips had pressed against the mark on my shoulder, a mixture of pain and pleasure shooting through me before something else entirely took hold. I was clenching around him and holding him close as I unraveled, holding on with everything in me out of fear of completely falling away. The sensation that such a little thing could cause was insane; my head had fallen back once the shocks of it wore off, Paul mumbling against my skin about how he was liking the mark more and more.

After the shower, we went up to my room, me brushing through my hair whilst Paul took it upon himself to pick out my clothes for me. I couldn't help but just watch him; he had changed into shorts, bobbing his head to the theme song of _That 70's Show _as he went through my wardrobe, making the most mundane task into something so incredibly stunning. Water droplets still clung to his dark skin, hair spiked up from where my hands had ran through it in the shower, the muscles in his back flexing with every minute action he made.

Paul's choices were surprising, but nothing outrageous. He had chosen a simple pair of black leggings to be paired with a dark green and fuzzy Patagonia sweater that head a zipper from the chest to the collar. I was almost surprised by the warm choices, figuring he would be wrapped around me like usual on our lazy days together, before remembering that he would be leaving for patrol in just a couple hours. On top of everything say the new addition to my accessories: his mother's necklace. I lifted my damp hair for him to put it on me before gently holding the 'P' charm between my fingers.

"I love this, you know," he mumbled, sitting with his legs on either side of me while I sat in the mirror, braiding my hair. "Doing little, normal shit with you like watching you braid your hair. Makes me feel like I'm let in on all these little things about you."

"You are," I hummed, my heart swelling at the sweet words he was saying. He leaned forward, tugging the collar of my sweater back with a finger so he could kiss one of the hidden tactfully hidden marks he had left. "You get to see it all, Paul Lahote."

One of those rare, heart stopping smiles pulled at his lips as his eyes found mine in the mirror, so genuine and warm that I couldn't resist but leaning back into him to feel it myself. I knew what he meant when he said the normalcy was something he loved, because I felt just the same way. Despite the constant stream of chaos that came with being bonded spiritually to a spirit warrior of the Quileute tribe, we were able to find each other in the calmest of places. Now, his fingers splayed over my thighs, I felt that peace that Emily had told me she saw in him whenever I was around. There was a softness to his touch, his head dipping down to my neck to cloak me in his scent.

"You smell like me all the time now," he mumbled, switching sides to the one that held his mark. "It's the mark, completely cuts your scent in half."

I could hear how pleased that fact made him in the low growl that emitted from his chest, giggling softly as he nuzzled into my neck more and made loud, snuffling sounds.

Our moment of being alone together was cut abruptly short when an eerie, high pitched howl cut into the air. It was the same pitch as the one that had sent Paul into a frenzy just days before, and I could feel his body tense against mine as his head lifted from my neck.

"We gotta go," he said, standing to his feet and using his hands on my hips to bring me with him. "That was Jacob; he found something. Charlie, your dad, and Harry are out right now, hunting bears because the fucking leech lover couldn't keep her damn mouth shut."

I felt my stomach plummet. My blood ran cold as my eyes locked on Paul's, his arm reaching out to pull me into him and coaxing me down the stairs. It took slipping into the easiest pair of shoes I had- fuzzy slippers with pointed bunny ears, of course- for me to finally pull myself together. My hand gripped on to his arm tight, grounding myself in the face of all the horrible thoughts that were flooding through my head.

"I'll drive myself to Emily's," I said, grabbing his keys off the little hook near the front door. I heard his protests behind me, already making my way across the gravel to get to the black truck. I was pulling open the door when he was slipping behind me, pressing his palm against the metal to slam it shut again. I turned on him, seeing the argument already alive in his eyes as he waited for what I had to say.

"I'll drive to Emily," I said again, feeling my heartbeat in my throat with every passing second. "You follow if you feel like you have to, but right now what I need from you is to be able to make sure that my father is okay, do you understand? You can't do that if you're driving, if you're human, so I need you to phase and I need you to protect my dad."

"You are my first priority, and your dad would say the same thing," he argued, shaking his head as he reached to take the keys from my hand.

"Listen to me!" I demanded, and the volume of my voice finally had his hard, determined eyes softening. "I am going to be fine, Paul. I'm going to drive straight to Emily's and you can run along the truck the entire way if you have to, but understand that if something happens to him, Paul, I-"

Soothing hands cupped my face as Paul pulled me from the truck, and I was about to squirm away and shout again when he pulled open the driver door. He waited until I got in, his hands sliding over my lap to buckle me in as I pulled the seat up so I could reach the pedals.

"Lock the doors, go straight there. I'll go to your dad, okay?" He leaned in to kiss me before pressing his lips to my hairline and inhaling deep. "I love you," he promised as he backed away, already pulling off his shorts.

"I love you," I replied, slamming the car door at the same time as I pressed the truck into reverse. Rocks skidded at my speed as I turned around, heading to Emily's house like a bat out of hell. I saw flashes of silver running in the woods along the truck for just a minute before it was gone, and only then did I feel like I could breathe normally.

I tried hard to keep the thoughts out of my head, pushing away all of the horrible possibilities with my dad out in the woods. I wouldn't let my mind wander to places based on simply what-if's, because what-if's were a poison that controlled too many, too easily and I refused to fall subject to that. My dad would be fine because he always was, it wasn't possible for him to be anything less. He was the type of man that would like death in the face and say, "No, Brynn needs me." and it would actually work.

My hands gripped the wheel like a vice, knuckles white as I took the turn on to Sam and Emily's road. I saw another flash in the trees, trying to soothe myself with the knowledge that the boys were in those woods, and this close to Emily's it would be far more likely to be one of them. Maybe they had even taken out the vampire that had come across the reservation and there would be another celebration when I got there, wrestling matches and desserts at the ready.

I was only a minute or two away when everything stopped. Or maybe it started? I couldn't tell what was happening, but I knew it was loud and painful. The truck had been knocked completely sideways and on such unsteady ground it rolled and rolled until the roof was caving in on me from the impact of a tree. I felt it hit against my head, felt the force knock my face against the steering wheel as the airbag pressed out, and the warm trickle of blood down my face nearly made me sick. My hands, clumsy and unabiding to my wishes, clawed uselessly at my seatbelt. Black spots were invading my vision and my eyes were blinking quickly in a poor attempt to fight them off. Another hard force hit against the vehicle and jolted my body once more. My head cracked against the window and a soft, weak sound left my throat as pain coursed through seemingly every inch of me. I tried to keep my eyes open, looking out the shattered windshield for another vehicle or something that could have caused the accident. There was nothing.

I thought of Paul, warm around me on my bedroom floor, hands against my neck to put the necklace on me, telling me he loves me before kissing over every part of my body, and wished for him to be there now. Everything had always been so much easier to survive through when it was with him close by. My eyes slid closed as they lost their fight against the black, head lulling to the side.

And then there was nothing.


	18. Cry

**CRY**

_Paul_

Everything was ice.

That's what I would have said if anyone had asked me what had gone through me when I first saw the truck with my own eyes. The entire thing had been totalled; there wasn't a piece of the black metal that was unharmed, every window splintered if not completely shattered. It was clear that the passenger side had been the one hit, now sitting high in the air with the roof of the truck beyond recognition.

That's when I smelled the blood.

There's something numbing about the metallic scent being infused with the scent of someone you love, someone you were meant to protect with every last beat of your heart. But the third scent, unfamiliar and nauseating when so close to Brynn, told me what had happened without needing the play-by-play from Jared. When the scent hit me, I was running.

I climbed the side of the truck like a mad man, completely ripping the jammed passenger door of its hinges as I tried to get inside. None of the guys stopped me, too caught up in their own grief-stricken stupor to worry about the possibility of someone seeing me act so impossibly in public. It wasn't like there was a crowd around to see anything; Emily's house was on a long stretch of road that had very sparse houses, and Brynn had been so close to the house, _so fucking close_, that the nearest neighbor was miles away.

Now, leaning against the side of the car and peering down into the driver's side, the ice that had been keeping my body intact was completely freezing over into my chest because there she was, so broken and bloodied that I could hardly recognize her. The metal of the roof had split from the impact of the tree, and I could see where the sharp edges cut into her head, though I couldn't see how deep. The stray hairs that had escaped her braids were stuck to the side of her face, dried scarlet holding them against her head. Her nose was bruised and possibly broken, blood still pouring from her nostrils and over her lips, preventing me from being able to see if there was any damage done there, too.

And this was just the external injuries.

"Brynn," I croaked, my voice so weak as I took in the sight. I couldn't get to her without possibly crushing her more, and the idea of flipping the truck was impossible in case of somehow increasing her injuries even more. "Baby, please." I hadn't realized I was crying until the tears had dripped off my chin and fell into the cab of the truck, landing on where her fingers rested against the buckle of her seatbelt.

She had never looked so ghostly pale, so fragile.

"Call a fucking ambulance!" I shouted, falling away from the truck and turning on my pack, my brothers. My hands shoved Sam roughly, hating the way he didn't fight back, the way he didn't even look me in the eye.

I turned back to the scene to keep from completely unraveling my anger out on them, moving around towards the driver side and trying to find any way in. The windshield had been completely shattered in most places, and I used the holes to slip my hands through, having to lay on my stomach to be in front of her as I pulled shards of glass from the screen. I didn't wait for it to be completely clean, sliding my body forward through the damage just to get to her, hardly feeling with the still jagged edges cut into my body.

I was hoping the feeling of her skin would reassure me that things were fine because she would be warm and it would be her, but as my fingertips grazed carefully over her slack face, another round of chill seeped into my bones. She was freezing, having left without a coat because of our hurry, and the chill of March mixing with her body putting its all into keeping her heart beating, it left little room for her to maintain any body heat. The faintest thump….thump could be heard from Brynn's chest, so quiet and far apart that it made my stomach twist in on itself. The gold necklace around her throat was stained with dried blood.

A sob ripped itself out of my chest as I looked at her, words falling from my lips and ranging from desperate pleas to prayers to cursing everyone in the world. I wanted to slide my hands over her, to keep her warm if it was all I could do, but the fear of shifting anything broken or fractured or splintered or fuck, anything damaged at all, was what kept me from doing it.

I heard running footsteps behind me before Embry's voice was whispering that he had called an ambulance and that they were on their way now. Sam didn't respond, and neither did anyone else. It was the first time I could tell what they were all feeling without needing a Pack link to assist me: fear.

"Stay with me, Price," I demanded, fingers still pressed to her blood-sticky cheeks. "Don't you fucking dare let your heart stop beating, you hear me? You've got to fight, baby. I need you to do this, okay? I'm fucking begging you, Brynn, don't stop breathing on me."

There were loud, multiple sirens wailing in the distance, but I didn't move even when I could hear the footsteps of the paramedics outside of their vehicles. Hands gripped my shoulders and started to pull me back, and even though I knew how necessary it was to let these people get to her and do what they needed to do to get her out and keep her breathing, a gutteral snarl still came out of me.

It was the wolf; he didn't have any idea what the point of these new, foreign people was, and he simply wanted to lay beside his mate to protect her and watch over as she healed. But the possibilities of healing alone were nonexistent, and that was what finally made me capable enough to let her go, allowing Jared to pull me out from the glass and into the closest, out of the way position there was.

Now, with the beeping of machines and the cool toned colors that came with the hospital, I still felt frozen. No one spoke to me and they hardly spoke to each other, all sitting in the waiting room. My eyes had been staring blankly at a coffee stain on one of the tables, thoughts unintelligible and emotions even worse. My hands hadn't stopped trembling since I got out of the ambulance and was forced to leave her side, and for the first time since I had phased, I felt cold.

Arriving at the emergency room had been an ugly thing. They had wheeled Brynn past swinging double doors, my toes nearly on their heels, before a man in a white coat cut me off abruptly. I had nearly thrown him to the side just to keep up with Brynn when he told me that there no one was allowed to back with her.

"Fuck you," I had spat, moving to get around him.

"Sir," he said, voice sincere and a hair from soothing as he swallowed thickly, intimidated by my expression and stance alone. "I'm afraid I'll have to call security if you go beyond this point. She's in good hands and the doctors are going to do everything they can to help her, but we need you to stay here in order to do that."

"We got him," Jared said, his tone nearly as scathing as mine was as he glared at the blonde man in front of us. He threw an arm over my shoulder, trying to appear casual as he put physical force into trying to turn my body around. "You can't do this now, bro," he whispered when I didn't budge. "B's back there fighting like hell, now it's up to you to be able to keep your shit together long enough to let her get patched up."

Patched up. I knew he said the term in hopes of minimizing the severity of her injuries to me, but the phrase sounded so ridiculous that I had shoved away from him to take the nearest seat to the doors. He didn't take my reaction to heart, settling into one of the open chairs beside me as the rest of the Pack settled in aside from Jacob, who had taken patrol with his head hung. I didn't have to read his mind to know why he did it; the guilt was written all over his face as he recalled the last words he said to Brynn.

It wasn't just the Pack here, though; Kim had showed up as soon as Jared had called her, teary eyed and terrified from what I could gather on hearing alone, James having shown up minutes after Sam called him, and he sat beside me now in the same deadly silence. Sue, Leah, and Seth Clearwater stood with us, though their reasons for being here were entirely different. Harry Clearwater had tragically fallen victim of a heart attack in the eyes of the humans, though I knew just as well as my brothers did that the vampire, Victoria, had been behind his death. Billy had arrived, Charlie Swan and his pathetic daughter with him.

"Paul," Bella whispered, hair still damp from the suicide attempt just hours before, so careful and timid as she stood in front of me. My eyes found hers slowly, seeing the blank reflection of them in her dark eyes. "I'm so sorry about Brynn."

She said more than that, but I had tuned her out the second my imprint's name fell from her lips. I wanted to scream at her, to watch her crumple in on herself as I reminded her that this was her fault, that if she hadn't ever gotten tied up in the Cullens, there never would have been a reason for me to be anywhere but next to Brynn in that truck. As much as I wanted to do that, my body simply wouldn't let me. Neither the wolf or man were controlling me anymore, but instead something dead and silent. The silence must have been just as effective though, because she hung her head and walked back to stand with her father.

Hours ticked by of the exact same thing. It would have seemed eerie to be surrounded by all these people and hearing no jokes or comments being passed around, not even from the infamously snarky Leah as she stood on the opposite side of the waiting area from Sam and I silently weeping Emily. She didn't have to endure it for long; a doctor came out to break the news that Harry's heart had suffered too great of damage to be repaired. They left in silence, only Sue turning around to send her best wishes to everyone who dreaded receiving the same words that she had gotten.

The silence was welcomed by me as I sat with my elbows on my knees, leaning towards the double doors and trying to listen to anything possibly being said about Brynn. So far, it was mostly passing comments between people talking about how awful the crash must have been and that 'for the sake of the party of people outside', they were hoping she pulled through. Occasionally the double doors would open and we would all stiffen, before the person that came through would go to another group or family waiting.

"She's going to be fine," I heard James mutter, and at first I thought he was speaking to himself. "You know her, kid. Brynn wasn't born in fire just to go out on an operating table. She's going to be just fine."

I understood exactly what he meant; Brynn was too big a spitfire and a wildcard to ever take going out like this. But the comment was just as reassuring as it was nauseating. I had been focusing hard on keeping the words 'dead' and 'Brynn' far away from each other ever since I had seen the truck through Jared's eyes. He had been the one to save her; I was keeping close to James and Harry, doing as Brynn asked, and I hated myself for it more and more. Jared had said the scent was unfamiliar, that the man was a pale white with dark hair and red eyes, and Jared had torn his shoulder just to get the fucker away from Brynn, worsening it as he chased him off the cliffs.

The sudden rush of gratitude had me glancing over at my brother, my best friend since age four, and I saw he was already looking back at me, Kim asleep against his side. I couldn't talk, wasn't able to find my voice with the unknown still hanging over my head, but it didn't look like I needed to. Jared reached over to wrap an arm around my shoulders, pulling me to him so our foreheads pressed together.

"You try and thank me even one time, and I'm asking Brynn to shove her foot up your ass the second all this is over with," he threatened, though neither of us cracked a smile. "He's right, you know. We're talking about _Brynn_. She plays with fire like it's a puppy and threatens to cut people's hands off. She's too strong to be anything but fine."

I nodded, the movement rubbing our heads together and making the wolf feel comforted at the physical contact of its brother. I pulled away after a second, sniffing in hope of keeping the tears in my eyes back. It wasn't that I didn't feel comfortable crying in front of these people, especially over Brynn, it was just the fact that I refused to believe I had anything to cry over. She would be fine, this would be put behind us, and there wasn't any reason for tears.

My eyes lifted and caught Emily's, her expression so open and distressed that it actually caused a pang through my ice-cold chest. She didn't speak, but her hand tapped twice against her heart in a silent message, and I felt the reassurance all the way through me for the split second my body allowed it to exist.

Jacob entered the waiting room just then, Embry standing to take over patrol. His hand squeezed my shoulder as he passed me, that same flood of reassurance that Jared and Emily had given me shooting through me before dying out. It was like there was a steady loop of quiet support that each of them offered me, but it would only last so long before the crushing weight of the situation in front of us came forward. I knew that the hints of relief wouldn't stand until Brynn was out of that room and smiling at me again, able to grip my hand or have her heart skip a beat when she saw me.

So we waited. I hadn't realized how long surgery and scans and tests could last until now. Patrol shifts switched, Kim and Emily staying even as Sam and Jared left, and the steady breathing of people sleeping along with the instrumental music playing in the speakers overhead were all that seemed to be happening. The sun had long since went down, maybe even on the brink of coming back up, when the double doors opened and a doctor stepped out. Sam and I were the only ones awake, our shoulders rigged as the doctor made eye contact with the two of us before beginning to make his way towards us.

I was out of my chair instantly, long strides cutting the distance so quickly that the man had only taken three steps before he was stopping in front of me. Sam was behind me, a figure of support and a reminder that I couldn't get out of hand no matter what came out of the doctor's mouth.

"She's stable," he started, and for once I let the relief that crashed over me last longer than two seconds. I felt as if I could actually breathe now, not realizing just how little attention I was paying to the action before now. "Her injuries were severe, but she got here in time. She suffered several head contusions that resulted in a concussion, as well as a deep wound in the crown of her scalp that required staples. Two of her ribs were broken on the left side. The radius and ulna in her left arm were broken, as well as a spiral fracture in the fibula of her left leg. There were multiple cuts across her face and body that required stitching or skin glue. She needed a blood transfusion from her head and face wounds," he explained, occasionally looking at his clipboard to see if he missed anything. "I don't want to alarm you, but she is at risk of slipping into a coma. We wont know for certain until the anesthetic wears off and we are able to tell whether the sleep is head trauma induced or post-surgery recovery. This is completely normal following the head injuries she had and the delayed medical treatment."

"A coma," I echoed, my throat feeling thick as the minute of relief was replaced once again, like some sort of sick dance. "Like, 'the shit people don't wake up from' a coma?"

"Her vitals all look good, and everything is going perfectly smooth," the doctor reassured, the smile on his lips small, but encouraging. "I'm very optimistic."

"Can she have visitors?" Sam asked, his voice rough from not having spoken in hours.

The doctor seemed to consider the question, looking from me to Sam and then behind us to where everyone slept. "No more than three people in her room at once. Are you two family?"

"Husband," I lied at the exact same time Sam said "Brother."

We found out her room number before Sam was pushing me towards the door, letting me know he was going to wake the others and fill them in. I hardly heard, too wired by the idea of finally getting to see Brynn that I was dashing off before Sam had fully gotten his sentence out. She was in room 406 and my eyes had locked on the door before I had even saw the numbers, able to smell her even through the stench of the hospital and the still present _me_ that was now mixed into her. I slipped through the door and closed it behind me, blocking out the aggravating sounds of the other monitors and the nurses gossiping back and forth about anything and everything.

For the second time, I felt my body go cold at the sight of her. Brynn had an oxygen tube hooked into her nose, the bridge having white adhesive bandages running across it to close a cut I couldn't see. Her casted leg was uncovered, revealing a bit of her tan skin where her gown was pulled above her knee, and I was more than happy to see that the color in the rest of her body was slowly coming back, though her face was still pale in comparison. Her arm was in a white a white cast and held to her chest with a blue sling. There were a few more shallow cuts across her forehead and cheeks, most likely from the glass of the windows and her getting knocked around. Dark wire ran through the skin of her chin, yet another cut I hadn't noticed earlier, the blood from her nose being a thick curtain over the rest of the damage.

Stepping closer, I was able to see the silver shin of the staples at the top of her head, my mind throwing images of the metal dug into the skin as I examined it. They hadn't cut her hair to place them, and I nearly smiled at how happy she would be once she realized that she avoided having a hat-phase.

How happy she _would_ be. Because she was alive; the heart monitor's constant beeping told me that much, matching with each even breath she took. I had barely made it to her bedside before I was falling to my knees, the alleviation staggering me to tears. My hands gripped her free one, careful of the bandages there, and I pressed my lips to the skin of her fingers, her palm, and down to her wrist where her pulse pounded evenly, strongly.

"I'm so fucking sorry," I groaned, the frustration with myself, with her pain, and everything else in the world seeming to come out. I brought our joined hands to my lips, closing my eyes and praying to whatever god, devil, or psychic person out in the world to let her squeeze me back. "I should've stayed with you. You should've _let me_ stay with you. God, you're so damn stubborn, you know that?" The question as an amused, wet laugh, the first smile I seemed to be able to let out, and I was positive it had everything to do with the beat of her heart this close to me.

One of my hands released Brynn's to reach for her face, gently tucking the stray hairs away from her face to get a better look at her. I could tell it wasn't a willing sleep; she looked lifeless here, too still even as her chest rose and fell. Sleeping beside me, she was always warm and alive, murmuring about grocery lists and me in her sleep or using her hands to tug herself closer to me, even as sweat beaded on her forehead. There wasn't any of that here, no peace to her expression and no fluttering under her eyelashes to tell me she was in there at all. I knew she was, could feel it, but the absent visual was something that made me uncomfortable nonetheless.

The door opened as I slid a chair close enough that my knees pressed to the hard surface of the bed, my head not even turning to see who walked through. I was too captivated on counting the seconds between each breath Brynn took, making sure it matched up with what the screen read. Maybe I was paranoid, but I figured I had good reason to be.

"Jesus," James said, his voice soft where he stood behind me. "What the hell happened, Paul?"

I thought about the question, swallowing thickly against the rage, guilt, and disgust that crept up my throat. I figured Sam wouldn't have said much over the phone or that James hadn't given him the time to before hanging up to get to the hospital. I had to give it to him; the guy had serious willpower on not pouncing on us to get the details out despite how solemn we had all been. I knew that if the roles were reversed, I wouldn't have taken the same route.

"What does Adrian look like?" I asked instead, my thumb stroking along the back of her hand.

There was a long pause before James spoke again. "5'10. Dark brown hair. Caucasian. Paper cut lips. Slim."

I matched each trait with the image that Jared had gotten of the tick's face, feeling my gut flip. He found her. Despite the lifetime she had on the run, the constant string of new houses and schools and friends, he had somehow located her in only three months. I could feel the wolf rouse inside of me, the desire to protect his mate being what let out the low growl from my lips as it struggled against the cage it was in.

"He pushed the truck off the road," I informed, my tone near monotonous as I kept my eyes on the girl in front of me. "The road had a drop off next to it that keeps the streets from flooding, and the truck flipped twice before the hood smashed into the side of a tree." I was reciting it like text from a history book, plucking every detail I had gotten from Jared's mind as he raced towards the scene. "Jared got there in time to slam the bastard into the underside of the truck before chasing him off."

I watched out of the corner of my eye as he rounded the bed to the opposite side of her, resisting the urge to snap at his hand as it brushed across her forehead. _Mine_, the wolf snarled inside of me, and I had to press my forehead against Brynn's fingers and close my eyes to keep from opening my mouth and letting some possessive quip roll off my tongue. He wasn't a threat, and yet it seemed like anyone near Brynn was something I had to be wary of. Even as he took a seat, grabbing the clipboard off the wall near her bed to read through the doctor's notes, I kept my eyes on him.

Reliving the memory had me thinking more about the Adrian vampire and Brynn's desire to take part in ending his existence. I had shuddered at the thought before, the very idea of her being anywhere close to the monster being horrible enough to make me hurl and shove the iea far away. But now, looking at all the awful shit that the parasite had put her through, I finally understood where her thoughts stemmed from. I knew it wasn't possible for her to do it all on her own, but I also knew that taking any part would be more than enough for her to feel like she had cut the leash that had been hanging from her throat all this time.

A plan started forming in my head, strategy always being something I fiddled with whenever my thoughts and emotions seemed to clash too hard together. Strategy was solid, smart, and better than staring at blank walls for hours on end. If we could tear him apart for her, she could light the fire. From an arrow, a lighter, or however she wanted to do it, I would let her. Time and time again the disgusting creature had taken away from her without her wanting him to, the innocence being ripped out of her hands at just four days old.

I could give her this one thing.

As the sun started to rise, the rest of the Pack took their turns coming in and managed to break the 'only three' rule instantly by coming in pairs. Emily and Sam were first, her fingers running over the back of my hair comfortingly as the two of them took turns wishing her the best and promising to come and see her soon. I hadn't moved away from the touch out of fear of hurting her, but having feminine hands touch me while my imprint's laid limp in my grip was far from soothing. Kim and Jared were next, and though I knew Brynn had been fond of Kim, I hadn't expected the girl to burst into tears upon entering the room.

"You have to wake up soon," she demanded when she stood up from her bed to leave. "I haven't even gotten to talk to you about all of this yet."

The rest were pretty much the same; Embry teased her over the fact that she would miss her first day of work, Jacob apologizing to her and telling her that he expected her to be on her feet again soon to kick his ass, and Charlie and Bella both just wished her a speedy recovery. I had zoned out through most of it, twisting my chair so I could prop my legs up on the wall and being able to have the entirety of our arms touching.

I hadn't registered my eyes closing until I was already asleep, my fingers curled around her elbow as my head fell back against the chair.

I dreamt of ice and blood.

**AN: I said I hated writing about happiness, but I have decided to eat my own words. What monster puts poor Paul through this stuff? Horrible, disgusting, I hate it. I didn't put a note at the end of Bruise, too caught up in getting it posted to remember to ask for your thoughts. What did you guys think of the accident? What do you think of Paul sobbing over his imprint's broken body, completely helpless? Also, were you expecting it to be Adrian that had flipped the truck, or were you thinking Victoria was in on it? The main villain has finally entered the chat, and I already want to block him from it. Hopefully these two get some peace and quiet soon, but something tells me that isn't in the cards for a while. But what do I know? Tell me your thoughts when you review, review, review!**


	19. Reply

**REPLY**

_Brynn_

I was dreaming.

I couldn't see anything, but I could hear the voices of everyone I loved talking around me.

Emily was speaking of a celebratory dinner for a new pack mate, and no matter how many times I begged her to tell me who it was, she wouldn't answer me.

Sam was grumbling about how he missed my snarky attitude and blatant violence, about how the house seemed too empty when I wasn't there, but he wouldn't answer when I asked why I hadn't been told about the gatherings.

Jared was whispering to me about how I needed to come back, that he was worried about Paul and no one but me knew how to pull him down from the edge of cliffs everyone thought he had walked away from. I asked over and over again what was wrong with him, where I needed to come back from, but he had just sighed that he loved me and fell quiet.

Then it was Kim who gushed over anything and everything Jared did before falling somber. She told me she missed me and that being around the Pack didn't feel right when Paul and I's presence were such a loud absence. I promised to come with her the next time, but that had only made her cry.

Embry was as lighthearted as ever, scolding me about sleeping in, but even his tone sounded off. I tried to reach out to him, but my limbs wouldn't move to allow the action.

Jacob was apologetic every time he spoke, despite me telling him how I had forgiven him the same day he had said the words. He promised to take Adrian down for me, though it had already been an agreement amongst the pack that when the vampire got here, it would be everyone's main priority.

My father's voice was typical as he spoke to me about the newest reservation drama and how he had restarted Supernatural to get him through the time that I wouldn't be able to watch it with him. Sometimes his voice would grow sad as he told me he missed me, and he never answered when I asked why.

Paul's voice was the one that came in the most frequent and he always had new things to say. Sometimes he promised that he would let me help finish this, other's he would tell me he loved me. On rare occasions, when there were no other sounds but a beeping, I could hear tears in his voice as he told me how sorry he was for everything. No matter how many times I told him I loved him back, that everything was okay, his warm tone never came back to him.


	20. Pound

**POUND**

_Paul_

I stepped out of the shower minutes after getting in, ears naturally picking up on the beep coming from the otherside of the bathroom wall. It was my new routine: I'd wait until James showed up at the hospital, take a shower in the connected bathroom, and then reclaim my seat beside her bed. Emily had brought a duffle bag of clothes for me with an outfit for Brynn whenever the time came to need it. She would also come by with a tupperware container of food to save me from the bland meals that were served at the hospital.

I hadn't left the room once. My wolf was going insane inside of me at the lack of release it felt, but I crushed the feeling down into my chest and sealed it up tight with everything else that could distract me from my imprint. The guys would fill me in whenever they came to visit, informing me about Quil's phasing and how he had taken it ridiculously well.

"He was literally leaping for joy, man," Jared chuckled, sitting near Brynn's blanketed feet. "Said he was just happy to know Em and Jake didn't ditch him for drugs and violence."

Jared was my favorite person to come to the room, talking without any expectations for me to respond and with no awkward silences when I didn't. He chatted animatedly, sometimes speaking directly to Brynn and cackling as he said what he assumed she would respond with. I could tell he missed her; out of the entire Pack, Jared and Emily had been the two that saw her as family the most, and it was obvious that her condition was hard on them.

Aside from Jared's company, my favorite moments were at night, after James left and it was just Brynn and I. Maybe she couldn't talk, couldn't wrap a leg around me to me close, but it still eased my mind to not have to worry about anyone tripping and thumping the bed, or the nurses fucking something up, or her dad worsening her head wound whenever he kissed her head in farewell. I'd talk the entire time, sometimes read chapter out of the book she had abandoned on the window seat, others just recalling some of my favorite things about her, or memories I held close. And sometimes after I whispered that I loved her, I could feel a pull on our bond that was too perfectly placed to be an accident. It's what made me believe that maybe all of those people recalling conversation during a coma weren't insane, because it happened every single time. That soft, warm tug in my chest was too perfectly placed to be anything less than her finding a way to reach me.

I stepped out of the bathroom in jeans and a maroon T-shirt, nodding my greeting to James. Dr. O'Brien came in not long after I had gotten seated, doing his typical scans and tests that were required to make sure everything with Brynn was stable and nothing was dropping.

"Anything to note?" He asked me, the way he did every morning. I had found it weird when he referred to me instead of James, but the sense of being who he trusted with her condition kept me from passing the conversation to my imprint's father.

"No," I mumbled, pulling one of the bandages off her hand that had gotten loosened at some point. The cut underneath was clean enough to let the area air out, but I leaned forward to press a chaste kiss to the wound. "It's day six, Doc. When does getting worried start?"

"It doesn't," the man reassured, slipping the clipboard into the pocket behind Brynn's bed. "With the severity of the accident and her wounds, it would only be considered worrisome if two weeks went by with a drop to her vitals. Right now, Brynn's body is very traumatized and it's doing its best to repair itself, but that takes a lot of energy out of her. Trust me, rest is something she needs right now."

James and I both sighed at that. We were well aware of how much Brynn needed the rest she was getting, but we also knew that seeing her so still and so lifeless for this long was more than unnatural. In the time that I had known my girl, this was the only time I had ever seen her capable of being completely still.

"Thanks, Doctor," James dismissed, and the room was once again only occupied by the three of us.

I settled back in the chair, moving it back whenever the nurses came into to switch out and check up on everything. This was another part of the routine; they came in, said their soft greetings and stared longer than they should have, before silently leaving. One woman had been bold the first time she entered; small talk and offering blankets, food, and pillows, which I had taken as part of the hospitality that came with the place. I had been polite enough, in my opinion, until I noticed the way she just stood against the wall closest to me and started to chat.

"Could you pay some fucking attention to your patient?" I snapped at her, her entire body jumping in surprise at my tone.

She had hurriedly finished checking over Brynn and darted out without a word to go talk to a few other nurses about it. The word seemed to have spread fast, because none of them bothered to speak more than asking me to move back or fix where the bed had slid over slightly.

It was almost boggling how much my mind had shifted with the imprint. Before, I would have taken in the curious, appreciative eyes on me and even played on a few of them. I would have chatted them up, found out what their motive was with a few smirks and harmless touches, before deciding whether or not they aligned well enough with my own. Now, my mind had been the entire opposite of welcoming the flirtatious personalities of the female nurses. I couldn't even remember what they looked like, so fixated on the blatant disrespect they were showing Brynn by even trying. I had heard them whispering about 'the boyfriend in room 406' enough to know that this wasn't just accidental pursuits.

"Wish Brynn could see the way the nurses act around you," James chuckled, pulling me back to the present. The woman had just exited the room, shutting us in behind her. "Poor things wouldn't stand a chance against a casted foot."

"Nah," I replied, slipping my hand into hers as I moved the chair into its usual position beside the girl's bed. "I don't think she's much of the jealous type."

"You kidding?" James scoffed, setting down the newspaper he had been reading. "Before the two of you even properly met, she was coming home, ranting and raving about the way girls talked about you like you were a piece of meat. I doubt it's gone away since the two of you got together."

The image had a smirk curling at the corner of my lips. "That's just her protective instinct," I chuckled, smoothing my thumb over her forehead gently. "She's got this crazy idea in her head that I need her to defend me."

"Loyalty," James corrected, nodding his head softly as he looked at his daughter. "Kid's crazy loyal when it comes down to it. That's why she sent you after me, why she put Swan's daughter on her ass, and why she got angry once she knew the truth about Kala. Family is the only solid thing the poor kid has ever had in her life since we moved so often, so she defends it when she feels like she has to."

His words made sense when I paired them with all the protective instincts Brynn had, both big and small. Jared had shown me times when Brynn had shielded Kim whenever her face had gotten red with embarrassment, or the times she would earn herself a 5 minute stay in class when Embry fell asleep during their biology lectures due to defending him. Then there was the pure, unobscured disliking towards Bella Swan for the way she treated Jacob, only to amplify into something more visceral whenever the girl had hit me. I recalled the anger in her voice on our first date, something that felt like it had been years ago, when she spoke about the way people talked about me and the unwarranted anger she had at the unknown actions of my father.

There was a howl in the far distance, the same warning cry for whenever something was found. My head whipped up fast at the sound, but it was too far away for James to hear and he looked at me with an eyebrow raised. I got to my feet, leaning over Brynn's body to press my lips carefully against her hairline, breathing in the mix of lilac and hospital.

"They found something," I said, not bothering to wait for James' reaction before I was out the door.

_It's him!_ Sam's voice growled in greeting once I Phased, located somewhere near the coast. _Bastard actually had the fucking balls to show up again already._

_Let's not give him another chance,_ Jared chimed, earning growls of agreement from the rest of the guys.

I didn't speak, my thoughts too trained on getting out of Forks and onto the reservation as quick as I possibly could. I could feel my paws dig into the earth with every bound, felt my wolf fall into the center as the desire to kill took over both of us. I allowed the loss of control; I may have always been angry, but the wolf was born to kill these things, and I wasn't letting any piece of me get into his way.

He probably doesn't know Brynn is in the hospital right now, an unfamiliar voice added, one I could only assume was Quil.

We'll keep him in pieces until she can light him up herself, Jacob snarled.

The trail was thick the moment my paws landed on Quileute soil, a bloodcurdling growl ripping from me. Despite the burn, I inhaled the scent as deeply as I could, made a note of it in every crevice of my mind. It wouldn't be unfamiliar after today; I refused to let it be. If the cards weren't played in my favor this time, I was going to make sure that it would be whenever the bastard crossed my path again.

_Oh, you must be the mutt looking out for my little Brynn,_ a foreign, unallowed voice sang in my mind.

The intrusion had me skidding to a halt, looking around the trees for any sign of the invader. There was nothing but the thick scent of a trail that led deeper into the reservation. None of the guys seemed to hear it, though they picked up on my startled thoughts and were diving into questions.

_What is it?_

_Did you see something?_

_Paul, what's going on? _

The entire string of conversation from the Pack was on an entirely different wire than the other voice, making my hackles raise as I looked around me once more.

_Down, doggy__**,**_ the voice chimed, and I couldn't tell if the melodic laughter was in my head or to my right. Either way, I darted after the sound. _Oh, which way am I gonna go? Where am I at? I think you should look the other way, no that way!_

_He's in my head, _I finally snarled out, and I could almost hear the collective confusion amongst the Pack. _I can fucking hear him._

_Is that possible?_ Jacob asked, his steps audible as he fell behind me from the west.

_Oh, another one!_ The voice mocked, my jaws snapping at nothing as rage flooded through me. _My Brynn certainly has been busy, hasn't she?_

The wolf snapped this time, lunging forward at nothing as we followed the trail. She was mine, had been born to be protected and cared for by me. There wasn't a piece of her that belonged to anyone else, and it certainly didn't belong to the monster that was hiding from us now. I hadn't thought it possible to what the bastard tore apart more, but that was proving to be false with every new word out of his undead mouth. The scent was getting stronger, nearly suffocating, and I heard Jacob snort as he realized the same thing.

_Now that I have your attention, listen closely,_ the voice said, only this time there was nothing mocking in his tone. It was woven with transparent irritation and animosity. _You have something that belongs to me, and until I get it, I'm going to take a bite out of one person from your filthy little tribe every single day. Could be to give them the sweet gift of immortality, could be to leave them lifeless for you little furballs to find. _

_He's going to kill someone, _I practically shouted into the link. Both Jacob and I pushed faster, and I could feel the alarm in my brothers as they rushed in from another trail that they had been following.

_Little Brynn has been playing a wonderful game of hide and seek, but I knew that she would one day return to the place her mother died_, Adrian sighed, almost as if he felt peaceful from what he was saying. _How is she, after our first little reunion? I had hoped to get a bite out of her before the hounds were set loose on me, but maybe there is some bigger, more theatrical way for all of this to play out. _

I thought of Brynn when I had found her, broken and bloodied beyond recognition, and the image sent an unexpected surge of force and energy through me. I tore through the trees after the scent, fallen leaves and dirt suddenly transforming into smoothed dirt as Jacob and I ran on a hiking trail. We whizzed by house after house, fully exposed and glad that no one seemed to desire being outside in the cold. I recognized the street at the one Kala Baker had lived on, my heart clenching in my chest as I neared the burned down home.

And there he was, the corners of his lips stained red in an unbelievably stereotypical image. A small, unmoving body laid at his feet as I advanced on him, his face forming something of mock shock before he was turning around.

_Don't fucking let him get away, _I ordered, shooting image after image of where we were through the Pack link.

_This way!_ Sam shouted towards Embry, Jared, and Quil, leading them further into the woods and away from Jacob and I.

It was the plan we had for the redhead, Victoria; they were heading directly for the cliffs.

I was gaining on him now, Jacob at my flanks as sound after sound left us. The prick must not have expected the speed, because he was silent now, entirely focused on keeping up his speed and trying to get away. I let everything consume me, igniting me as I could feel my body begin to tire from the long chase. I didn't stop, didn't slow; images of the burned home, of Brynn's empty gaze, of her bloodied body, of her laying unmoving in a hospital bed flashed in my mind one after the other along with one more vivid image.

Brynn's smile when she dropped a lighter on this shredded corpse.

It was that last push I needed to heave myself towards the body just as the trees ended at the cliffside. My paws landed on his back as he flung himself off the cliff, Jared at my side and craning his neck just to catch air. We both went flying, the weight of my body pulling me down quicker as my teeth sank into whatever I could grab and came away with just the fabric of his shirt. I heard his laugh and knew he had realized what I did; the second we hit the water, he would be gone.

My body slammed into the rough waves like the ball of a cannon, one last attempt at biting for his straightened leg as he began to run away. Just like with the other vampire, my teeth came away with rock-hard flesh only, and when I looked up from the severed stone, he was already gone.

The Pack was there to meet me when I got to shore, my human body panting as my knees hit the cold sand, feeling as though I was burning alive from the frustration and anger inside of me. Someone handed me shorts and I slipped into them slowly, body spent on the exhaustion I had put it through. I looked up at them from where I sat in the sand, knees pulled up with my elbows resting on them. They looked as bad as I felt; Jacob had taken to sitting as well, everyone taking one deep pull of air after another.

"Did anyone call the Chief?" I asked, tossing the torn skin into the sand and spitting on it. "That kid is still laying in the dirt."

"Sam sent Quil to Emily's to get it taken care of," Jared reassured, leaning down to grab up the pound of undead flesh I had tossed.

"Least it wasn't a total waste," Embry grumbled. "Let's set that shit on fire."

"No," Jared, Jacob, and I said all at once. Sam and Embry both stared between the three of us, surprised.

"I promised her," I sighed, holding back a groan as I stood up. "Every last piece of him."

We made our way back to Emily's on foot, talking amongst ourselves about additional strategies to add. My head wasn't really in it, split between two paths as I considered guarding the reservation like its personal hell hound and high tailing it back to Brynn as soon as possible.

"What I want to know," Jared started, walking backwards to be able to look at us. "Is how the hall that fucker got into your head."

"Some of them have little gifts," Jacob said bitterly, hands shoved into the pockets of his shorts. "The little witch that came to drag Bella to Italy was a damn psychic."

I stopped short, looking at him quizzically. "Bella's in Italy?" His answering growl told me enough. "What the hell is she doing in Italy with a Cullen?"

"Witch saw Bella jump off a cliff, word got back to her boy-toy and now he's going to some Vampori place to kill himself," Embry answered, falling into step with me as I started walking again.

"And the leech-lover just had to go because the opportunity of getting herself murdered was too exciting to miss, right?" I readied for Jacob's snarky response, only to be left surprised when he didn't even bat an eye at the name calling.

Emily's house came into view, making Embry and Jared whoop at the sight. They were exhausted; it was clear in their faces as they sped up to get inside quicker, most likely about to scavenge for food since it wasn't quite lunch time yet. Quil walked out before they got to the door, and the grin on his face made me want to punch him.

"Yo, did you get him?" He asked enthusiastically, and when Jared held up the chunk of vampire-bits, he stuck his arms in the air. "And that's all that's left, ha!"

"No, dumbass," Embry grumbled, putting himself between me and the newcomer in an attempt to ward off any stray hits I might throw. It was smart; the kid was already getting on my nerves. "That's all Paul _got_. Piece of shit swam away."

That seemed to sober Quil, his face falling as he led the way into Emily's kitchen. Sam split from us to go search for her as we all took our turns sorting through the cabinets and the fridge. I had started in on a sandwich, my mind mulling over everything that had happened in the last hour or so.

"We need constant patrol," I said, seeing Jacob nod from where he crouched to grab a package of Oreo's. "The guy's more into theatrics than he is in safety. I think he's going to bring anyone he wants to hurt back to Kala Baker's old place, some sort of sick symbolism or something."

"Fucking disgusting," Jared spat, a shiver running down his spine as we took our seats. My arm fell over the back of the empty chair to my left, unconsciously pulling the seat closer to me as I let my head slump back.

"Is that where B usually sits?" Quil asked and I heard a thump. "Ow! What's the big deal? It's not like she's dead!"

I was tired, hungry, and without my imprint, all which made me incredibly more irritable than I normally already was. My head lifted to drop my gaze on him, his hand still rubbing at the back of his head as he scowled at Jared. My mind tossed around things that I could do or say to him to get his point across, because regardless of his cluelessly new status, I knew there came a point when everyone needed to be put into their place.

He was saved by the phone ringing, a giggling Emily going to get it with a prowling Sam at her heels. The scene made me wince and look away, finding the bond between two imprints hard to stomach when mine currently had tubes in her nose and staples in her head. I could tell that Jared noticed, because he was quick to slap my shoulder and offer me one of the six cookies he had grabbed from the stove.

"They're still gooey," he promised through a mouthful of crumbs, making me smile as I accepted the offer.

"You're a fucking pig, you know that?" I asked, chuckling as he snorted obnoxiously before slamming down into the seat beside me once again. I turned to Jacob, who was slowly turning a bottle of water around in a circle, eyes clearly distant. "So," I said casually, slumping into my chair a little more and grabbing another cookie from Jared's hand. "Tell me more about the Vampori situation."

It was like popping a balloon; Jacob was sitting straight and talking instantly, head shaking and hands flying around as he got bent out of shape over the subject. I listened closely, glad for the momentary distraction and to feel the closest to normal I had in nearly a week. Jared had Quil play waiter, bringing us bags of chips and drinks from the cupboard on the pretense that he needed to make sure I could calm down if the story upset me.

"Bullshit," Quil muttered, but he got up to do as asked anyway.

"I almost had her, man," Jacob was saying, pulling my attention back to him. "Practically freaking kissed her. If he had just waited two seconds to make that damn call…"

Not for the first time, I noticed myself feeling sorry for the kid. It wasn't a big secret that Jacob hadn't had the most ideal adolescent years, having to take care of his crippled old man while his sisters went off gallivanting who knows where. He had taken it in stride, still laughing and smiling with Embry and Quil whenever I saw him, but not even a good kid like Jake could go without feeling like something was taken from him in some way, shape, or form. We had expected him to phase long before he did, showing the telltale signs up until the moment Bella Swan tripped her way into his life.

Now, watching him snarl at a water bottle with his fists clenched, I could see the familiar signs of a kid who got too much taken from him.

"Who knows," Embry sighed, reaching across the table for the bag of Doritos Jared and I were sharing. "Maybe she's just doing this to wipe her hands clean of them."

"Maybe she wants a front row seat to the show," I added.

"Yeah!" Quil said, nodding his head enthusiastically. "Think about it; if someone left you in the middle of the woods and disappeared from your life forever, wouldn't you kinda want to see them burned at the stake?"

"Not at the stake, Quil," Jacob chuckled, letting us know we had successfully done our jobs to cheer him up as much as we probably could.

"Paul?" Emily called suddenly, and my head swiveled around to see where she stood at the phone. Sam was eyeing me carefully and the caution in his eyes had a slow, sinking feeling come over me.

Why hadn't I been paying attention to the damn phone call? Hardly anyone bothered with Emily's house phone anymore, so it should've been something I paid more attention to. Not to mention the fact that it was likely James on the other side, and me not picking up on his voice was purely insane.

I didn't move, wasn't sure if I could as I waited for whatever was coming next out of Emily's mouth. There was still a distant tingling inside of me, that electrical current that seemed to come with being bonded to Brynn Price, and that was the only thing that kept me from getting too worked up. If that feeling was still there, it couldn't be possible that Brynn wasn't, right? There was no way to know for sure, but somehow I was still reassured by that unknowingness. It simply wasn't a possibility for me to be continuing on just fine if she wasn't okay; I would feel it like a stab wound to the chest.

"It's Brynn, Paul. She's awake."

**AN: I cannot stand the idea of them being separated for more than two whole chapters, okay? I just can't. What do you think of Adrian's little vamp talent? I figured it was consistent with the type of person he is when it comes to getting into people's heads, so I rolled with it. **

**In other news, the reviews are currently messed up right now, which sucks because I'm pretty sure the last two got more than any other chapters. I should be able to see them within the next few days once the backload fixes, but until then just know that I am dying to see what is going through your guys' heads right now. Don't let this discourage you from reviewing, though! It'll be so fun to come on here and see what you were all going through in the past two chapters. Tell me more when you review, review, review! **


	21. Cullens

**CULLENS**

_Brynn_

I was blind.

At least, that's what it felt like. I knew that my eyes were opened, could see the darkness every time I blinked, but that didn't explain how white my vision was when I was supposed to be seeing. The alarm most people may feel at having one of their senses ripped from him didn't come. It was as if my mind was on momentary pause, unable to process the things around me.

There was high-pitched beeping something from the right side of me, but just the idea of moving my head at all made my skull ache. I blinked again, heard a shuffle, before my dad was speaking to me.

"Rin?" He said, his voice sounding elated with a touch of unwarranted worry. I felt my side dip into the bed more as he sat, and then his face was looking down at me as my eyes finally seemed to work, eyes crinkling up in the corners with his smile. "Hey, Rinny Roo," he crooned, gentler this time. "How're you feeling?"

My throat was on fire when I tried to respond, feeling as if I had gone days and days without a single sip of water. It must have been obvious, because my dad was leaning out of my view before coming back, bringing a cup with a straw to my lips. I gulped down what I could, the relief on the burning so intense that I had finished the cup before even realizing it.

"I'll have the nurses get you more," he promised, but the words went in one ear and out the other.

"Paul," I croaked, and this time I suffered through the ache at the top of my head to manage looking to my left side. It was where I had heard his voice in my dreams, but there was only an empty chair there now, looking as though it had been haphazardly shoved back in some hurry. I wanted to smile at the thought of Paul getting worked up enough to take off because it was just so him to take something as simple as standing up and making it over the top. It seemed that just the thought of them has my mind beginning to beat back to life, my eyes glancing upwards one more time to realize I hadn't been blind, the ceiling and walls were just the exact same at the tops.

"The boys called to him," my father explained, his hand brushing against my forehead soothingly. "It's the first time he's left your bedside since you got in here. He's going to be pissed that he missed you waking up, I better call him. I'm going to have the nurses come in too, alright?"

I held up a weak thumb in response before he walked out of the room. Trying to relieve myself with my whereabouts, I attempted to take a deep breath before gasping as pain shot through my side. It seemed to be the missing puzzle piece to the rest of my body's feeling, because suddenly I was feeling something just short of agony in multiple areas. My ribs were the worst, though it seemed like my entire left side was on fire as I took in the damage. I knew even as I was sitting in the driver's seat that the crash had been awful, something that could have potentially ended my life. That knowledge was the only thing that made the pain bearable as I looked over my casted leg and the bandages that seemed to litter my entire body; I had survived something most people wouldn't. I could handle a little pain.

The door opened, and for a brief moment I had hoped that it was Paul. But in walked a perky blonde, her eyes skirting to the empty chair at my side before she gave me a wide smile.

"You are quite the trooper, huh?" She mused, moving to grab a clipboard from beside my head. "We were thinking you would be out for at least another week! How are you feeling?"

"Honestly?" I rasped, trying to swallow in hope of getting my throat slicker. It didn't work. "I feel like I got hit by a bus. Everything hurts."

"We'll have the doctor come in to give you some more pain medicine, don't you worry," she reassured. She prattled off about a few more things, but my mind had slipped from listening to her to the sudden pang of worry I felt through the string tied around my heart.

Whoever was delivering the news to my imprint wasn't doing it right, clearly.

I was given more water, pain medicine, and even assistance in brushing my teeth before a doctor by the name of O'Brien came in, making small talk and cracking jokes about my condition before relaying everything wrong about my body to me. He seemed decent enough, though I hadn't needed to see many doctors in my life to know if that was just typical behavior or if he just seemed to be a genuinely okay guy.

"I'm surprised your boyfriend isn't here," he admitted, drawing back as he checked my IV bag. "Poor kid's back probably won't ever heal after sleeping in the chair all week."

"Paul," I hummed, feeling the cut in my lip sting as my lips turned up slightly. "He gets worried easily."

"You call an accident that bad easy? You really are a force to be reckoned with." He laughed at me, shaking his head as he made his way towards the door. "Thought Paul might take my head off my shoulders when I got to tell him the news. Most people respond pretty positively to being told everything is good and I'm optimistic."

"Not Paul," I said, nearly smiling as I tried to imagine a volatile Paul, most likely barefoot and shirtless, being held back by one of his brothers as he heard the news. "The only thing you could've told him that would make him react any differently is that I was completely normal and ready to go home."

"Well," he sighed. "Sounds like you've got a good guy looking out for you."

"Yeah," a new voice said, out of view but sending chills down my spine all the same. "She does."

Paul stepped into the room then with his face looking slightly shaken, as if he couldn't believe what he was seeing. Now I grinned, and I could feel the stitches on my chin pull just as the cut on my mouth did, but it was a smile that was undefeatable. Every hint of fear or pain I had been experiencing previously had shimmied out the door along with the doctor, making room in every part of me for the emotions that flooded me just at the sight of Paul. I had remembered hearing his voice, though I couldn't for the life of me recall what he had been saying, but this was something entirely different. Separated for six days willingly had been horrible, but being unable to feel or see him against my will had been the worst thing about all of this.

I could see my emotion returned in his eyes, pools of brown swimming with so much elevation as he took in my smiling face. My hand reached out to him weakly, body seeming unable to comply fully as the drugs pumped through my system.

"If you ask me who I am, I'm going to lose my mind," he sighed, falling to his knees beside my bed and burying his face against my hand. I welcomed the warmth instantly, curling my fingers from beneath his chin to run over his hair.

"I thought about it," I teased, my fingers stroking through his hair and pulling that content purring sound from his throat. "I figured the smile would make it unbelievable, though. I don't think it would ever be possible for me to forget you, no matter how many times my head got hit."

"Let's not test the theory, okay?" He whispered, and my heart jolted at the obvious tears in his voice. He kept his head down, nosing against my blanketed thigh.

"Hey," I crooned, my own heart breaking as my hand lifted his chin up. I hadn't ever seen Paul cry before now, and the sight was just as devastating as he sounded. His eyes were rimmed red, most likely from lack of sleep, but the moisture on them now had the skin looking lit up around the dark browns of his eyes. "I'm okay, see?" I wiggled the fingers and toes on the right side of my body, unable to even feel the left. "Nothing a little time can't fix."

Paul scoffed his unamusement, looking away for a second and clenching his jaw. I could tell that something was eating at him, something bigger than just me being hurt, but I didn't want to pry and risk ruining the first moment I was getting with him and nearly a week. The fingers of my good hand reached out to steer his head back to me by gripping his chin, his face visibly relaxing underneath my touch as he leaned into my palm. It soothed me as well, the little piece of lace tying his heart to mine seeming to squeeze slightly before loosening again.

"You don't know what seeing you like this does to me," he mumbled, fingers reaching out to pull the blanket over the toes that were exposed through my cast. "It fucking eats me alive, knowing you're in pain and I can't do a damn thing to help. I couldn't even keep you-"

"Don't you dare," I interrupted, my voice sounding stronger than it had since I first spoke. "Don't you dare sit there and blame yourself for this, Paul Lahote. I twisted your arm and forced you to go, this has nothing to do with you leaving."

He shook his head, a bitter expression on his face until I pulled his eyes back to mine once more. Those hard brown eyes softened instantly, all the love in the world seeming to shine back at me. I wanted to lean forward and press my lips to his, but the knowledge of broken ribs held me back. Instead, I pulled my hand away from his face to use it to brace my body, slowly but surely easing my body farther to the left side of the bed.

"Stop," he ordered, huffing when I ignored him. "Babe, you can't be doing shit like that. You shouldn't even be awake right now, let alone squirming around." His hand reached out to grip my thigh, the heat from his skin heating me up through the blanket and making me relax back into the left side of the bed.

"Just want to lay with you," I sighed, blinking slowly as the fatigue from the medicine began to run its course. "In sickness and in health, remember?"

"We haven't made those vows yet," Paul grumbled, but I smiled as he peeled the blanket back and stood. "You better wait for my request."

"What if I asked you?" I giggled, stopping short with a wince as a dull, but noticeable ache started up in my side at the movement laughter caused. "Strong, independent woman, " I sighed, my face scrunching slightly as the word 'independent' came out jumbled.

"God," he chuckled, sinking down into the firm mattress. His arm carefully snaked behind my neck to hold me, though his hand remained flat on the mattress rather than pull around my side. "You high, Price?"

My good arm moved across my body to wrap around Paul's thumb, carefully coaxing his hand into resting lightly on the part of the gown that covered my ribcage. It was strange and most likely a loopy side effect to the drugs that had been flowing through my body, but it was like the shattered bone felt _better_. The feeling brought a content sigh from my lips, my head gingerly rolling to the side until my forehead pressed to Paul's lips. He pursed his lips twice in two small kisses, making me hum my satisfaction. This could have been the end for me, and I would have gone out with a smile.

"Just feel'n good," I slurred lazily. "Broken bones have nothing on this stuff, let me tell you."

"Hey," Paul mumbled through a laugh, his voice so low that it vibrated my shoulder where it was pressed to his chest. "You know how much I love you?"

"All of it," I sighed happily, my eyes slipping shut in content. I had been sleeping for six days straight, but there was something so soothing and healy about Paul's presence that made me want to slip back into that unconscious state of mind.

"Yeah," Paul sighed, the amusement clear in his voice as his thumb stroked over my cheek in a feather light sweep. "Every last bit."

"I love you," I mumbled back, mind already giving way to relaxation and the medication pumping through my bloodstream.

I closed my eyes, and when I opened them again I was in the forest.

My initial reaction was fear, my eyes wide as I looked around the setting, feeling eyes on my back every which way I turned. There was an eeriness to the woods as if they weren't the ones I had walked through to school every morning and afternoon, though I knew it was La Push by the distant sound of waves and the low hanging clouds covering the sun. No, this was my home, and I was afraid of it.

Without thinking, I took off running and only then did I realize that my body was fine, not a scratch on me as I sprinted past tree after tree, looking for a way out. I could hear footsteps behind me, trailing so close that every twig my foot stepped on was cracked under the weight of my hunter not two seconds later. I didn't know which part of the reservation I was at, but I started to cry out in hopes of someone hearing me, of possibly catching the attention of one of the boys on patrol and being saved by the pack yet again.

Something cold and hard wrapped around my leg and pulled me back, the air getting knocked out of my lungs the moment by chest smacked into the uneven ground. My captor laughed as he dragged me towards him slowly, one hand falling over the other up my leg as the distance between us shortened. I turned on my back to look up at the man, but he was only a cloud of grey, a human form clear behind the smoke but invisible nonetheless.

"I'm coming for you, my little Brynn," he spoke, his voice creeping over my skin like nails on a chalkboard, making me shudder just the same. "I'm coming."

I blinked and suddenly the forest was on fire all around us, the smallest circle of untouched dirt we were in being the only color in a sea of orange, red, and yellow. The man was still laughing, the outline of his shoulders bouncing as he did so and my stomach twisted.

This was all a game to him. I knew who he was regardless of the smoke hiding his face; Adrian had finally come to claim what he wanted, and he thought now was his time to do that.

"You don't get me," I snarled, pulling my leg uselessly at the crushing grip he had on my ankle. I kicked at him, but it was as though my foot was hitting a cold slab of concrete.

Paul's voice appeared in my head suddenly: _I want you to feel like everything is on your terms. _

My own voice in my head answered back: _Everything is up to me whether you know it or not. _

"You look just like your mother," Adrian boasted, the tone of his voice making another sickening twist to my stomach come on. "Even have the same determined wrinkle in your forehead. I wonder if you'll taste just as good."

He was leaning over me now, knees pressing into my own to keep my legs still as if it mattered. My hands moved to hit at his chest, though it was something so futile he didn't even bat an eye at the contact. His fingers wrapped into my hair to force my head to the earth beneath me, exposing my neck to him as the fog of his face crept over mine.

I squeezed my eyes shut and reached for anything on either side of me, feeling leaves and dirt and grass and then heat. I didn't hesitate before grabbing it, the palm of my right hand screaming in resistance as I folded my fingers over the tree limb, bright with the fire that had captured it.

"You don't get me," I repeated through my teeth before I was throwing the tree limb between us, his screams penetrating the air as his entire body turned into nothing but flames.

His weight was too great for me to move or slip out from under, but I didn't care. I laid still as I felt the warm licks and caresses of the fire against my skin, my hair, and my clothes, giving myself to all of it entirely. Adrian was dead because of me and I had a family who would miss me when I closed my eyes for the last time, and those were the only two things in this world I had wanted.

Quietly, I burned.

"How's she feeling?" A voice suddenly said, making me realize that the flames in my vision and the heat consuming me had subsided, aside from the unnatural warmth pressed against my right side.

"She's tired," Paul's voice said fondly, his bicep flexing behind my head as he shifted to press a kiss against my temple. "Drugs are working pretty good though, I think. She hasn't complained about pain, just got a little high and fell asleep. How's everything going back home?"

"The authorities cleared everything out; they're blaming it on some wild animal again," the first voice sighed, and the second I was able to place it to Emily Young, my eyes were opening.

"Thank God," I groaned, moving to sit up too fast before my vision went hazy, Paul's hand coaxing my shoulders back to the bed as he mumbled things like 'ridiculous' and 'I swear it amazes me that you're healing at all'. I waited for everything in the room to stop spinning, my eyes landing on the two women in front of me as a smile split my face. "You have no idea how awesome it is to see you two together."

Kim and Emily exchanged an amused glance before laughing.

"You have no idea how _awesome_ it is to see you awake," Kim replied, carefully sitting on the bed beside my casted leg as Emily took the chair my father usually took up. "Next time, can you at least wait until I get to talk to you about everything before getting yourself into life-threatening accidents?"

"Now where's the fun in that?" I giggled, a hand slipping to press against my ribs as they ached slightly at the jostling. Paul's hand beat me to it, and the heat was like an automatic pain reliever to my broken bones. "Where's Jared, though? I'm surprised he's leaving your side, he was so mopey about you when he thought you were going to flee."

"It's his shift. Emily had picked me up to bring me here so we could have the ultimate reunion."

"I also brought muffins," Emily chimed, and I would have attempted to reach a hand out to her if my only good one wasn't caught up in Paul's already. "Figured you would need the pick-me-up when visiting hours were over."

"I haven't gotten to tell you in six days, but you're an absolute godsend, Emily Young," I sighed, settling into Paul's side more comfortably.

"Careful, B," Sam warned as he walked into the room, Jacob, Embry, and I boy I didn't recognize following behind him. "She's engaged."

I couldn't even come up with a snarky response, so overwhelmed by the sight of all the guys with me again. It was funny, how I could miss them and not realize it, but the second that I was in their presence again it was like something familiar settling back into place inside of me after going lopsided. My heart swelled as I watched them all find their own spots against walls, Embry perching at the front of my bed next to Paul and I's feet. They were my family, and they were all with me again.

"You ready to blow this joint yet or what?" Embry asked, helping himself to the basket that Emily had prepared for me and successfully snagging a muffin.

Paul carefully unwound his leg from mine to kick at the boy's back, successfully launching him off the bed. "Those are for Brynn, asshole," he muttered, but there was a small tilt to his lips that told me he was just as content to be surrounded by all of them as I was.

"So," the unknown boy said, pressing his back against the wall across from the bed. "You're the infamous Brynn Price."

"And that would make you?" I asked, sliding Paul's hand over my ribs to the top of the sore area, trying to find that relief he so easily supplied.

"I'm Quil Ateara," he said, the words coming out of his mouth like a beckoning call that I couldn't help but laugh at. "I broke wolf the night you ended up in here."

"Now we're trying to find a way to kick him out," Paul teased, chuckling when Quil stuck his middle finger in a silent retaliation.

I relaxed back into Paul and enjoyed the conversation that was milling about, Jacob channeling surfing and getting hollered at every time he skipped over something good and Embry trying to persuade me into letting him have more out of my snack basket. For once, I didn't pry for the details of my accident, though I knew there were things I was going to need to hear, and more than likely they would be told to me soon. For now, I let myself enjoy the company of my family, smiling and laughing as I much as I could.

When they all left as visitor hours ended and more medicine had been successfully pumped through my system, I found sleep to be the last thing I wanted. Paul caught on quickly as my good limbs repositioned and moved nonstop, unable to find a position that felt comfortable.

"Do you need me to turn up the air so it blows higher?" He whispered, head dropping to press a kiss against the mark on my shoulder.

I had almost forgotten the mark in the midst of everything that had been going on, but Paul's lips brushing against it was a vivid reminder of just how powerful the teeth mark was. I felt it like a warm rush of water throughout my entire body, seeming to tie a cooling structure around all my wounds and making me feel ten times more relaxed.

And something else, but now wasn't the time for that.

I could tell by Paul's smirk that he had picked up on it, making me pinch his side slightly as he relaxed back into my side. The room and the smell was all off, but laying next to him almost made me feel like we were back in my room, snuggled up and falling in love along the way. We were far past falling now, his eyes gleaming as he leaned down to press a gentle, lingering kiss against my lips. I sighed into it, his hand squeezing my thigh gently before he pulled away.

"You better stop," he warned, lips pulled up in my favorite smile. "Gonna get me in trouble."

"I knew you had a thing for this hospital gown," I teased, accepting the poke to my side as his retaliation. "You know what they say, easy access and- hey?"

Paul had launched himself out of the bed as carefully as possible, my left side being jostled only slightly from the momentum of his movement. His entire body was tensed and coiled, as if he was ready to spring as his eyes watched the doorway of my room. I didn't speak, my blood going cold at the clear aggression in his stance and the low, alert sound that rumbled out of the man's chest.

"What the hell are you doing here?" He asked, voice low and so clearly speaking to something that was other, something that could hear his tone even from his place on the other side of the door.

The door opened and Sam stepped in carefully, my brows pulling down in confusion. If it was just Sam, then what was the volatile reaction from? Even with the knowledge that it was just a family member, I still couldn't relax as I took in Sam's body language. He was tense, eyes focused on Paul as he took short, crouched steps into the room, his palms showing in a clear display of 'I'm not a threat'.

"They want to have a conversation," he said evenly, just as three more people stepped into the room. "I told them I wouldn't agree to anything without Brynn's consent."

The first person to step into the room was a blonde, young man with pale skin and bright, golden eyes. He wore a sweater and slacks, his hands clasped in front of him as he glanced from Paul to me and then back to my wolf. His expression read the same thing that Sam's body was trying to put off: we are not a threat.

The second was a younger male, bronze hair swept messily utop his head. His eyes were the same unnatural hue of the first male's, his arms wrapped around the dainty form of none other than Isabella Swan.

"You've got to be kidding me," I breathed, realizing what exactly was standing in front of me now. "Sam?" I couldn't help the betrayed way my voice sound, as if the mere fact that Sam would bring these creatures around me was enough to count as treason.

"Bella told them about your situation, Brynn," Sam said carefully, still keeping himself between Paul and the Cullens.

"We're very gratuitous for your defense of Bella while we were away," the blonde man said, his voice soothing ice. "We know that Victoria is still out there, and we want to assist you in trying to take out both threats."

Hearing the unspoken fact out loud should've have affected me, because I already knew it all. There hadn't been a single thing to cause the truck to flip, especially in a way that would would me but so carefully laid up to not kill me entirely. When I looked out the windshield, I hadn't seen a single thing around me that was abnormal, but when I had heard the guttural growls of one of the wolves, the fact of the matter had planted like a seed in my mind, and this vampire had just given it the water it needed to grow.

"Adrian's here," I whispered, hating how uncertain that sentence made me. Paul had clearly decided the Cullens weren't a threat, turning his back on them to make his way to me. "He's found me, hasn't he?"

"He isn't going to touch you, Price," Paul promised, carefully pulling my head to his chest, making sure his fingers stayed clear of the wound at the top of my head. "We're going to bag this fucker and that'll be it."

"Edward's sister, Alice, has the capability of seeing the decisions Adrian will make in the future, she'll be able to know exactly what he's wanting to do," Bella spoke, making her way further into the room and into my view. "Brynn, I know how much the idea of working with them sounds horrible to you, but-"

"Okay," I breathed, feeling Paul tense beneath me for a second before he was relaxing again, thumb rubbing over my cheek comfortingly. "If it means taking him down faster and giving the Pack a chance to ease up a bit, let's do it."

The blonde, who I ended up learning was called Carlisle, was instantly launching into a talk with Sam and Paul over the best way to work with one another. Bella took the chair to my right as the guys spoke, our eyes watching them in seemingly the same protective gaze. They spoke for nearly an hour before Sam was nodding and shaking hands with Carlisle, each of them thanking the other for their service. Paul didn't bother with the niceties, taking his place on the bed beside me as the three of them left the room.

"You sure you're alright with this?" He asked later, once we had settled into the comfort of each other's warmths. I could tell their smell still lingered by the way Paul would frequently nuzzle into my neck and breathe in deeply.

"No," I answered honestly.

**AN: Guys, the reviews are back and I'm finally able to see everything you guys have been saying! But boy, was it a lot to sort through. Buckle up, because I have a lot of thoughts to touch down on. **

**There were a couple people who pointed out the obvious disliking Brynn has for Bella, but I want to remind you that despite this character being written by me and having the possibility to be perfect if I so pleased, I want it to be clear that she has her own thoughts and opinions to make her as real as any other character in any other story. People have flaws, and Brynn isn't any different. Obviously she will have a huge bias against vampires due to her past (not only her mother's murder, but the fact she wasn't able to have a normal childhood whatsoever due to being hunted) as well as the fact her new family are actively pursing them. She is also only seventeen, so her emotions are not going to be carefully thought out and she's going to be unbearable sometimes. Yes, I could have made her adore Bella and understand her perspective on things, but the reality is that she just doesn't want to, especially since the knowledge was still so fresh in her mind when poor Bella walked into Emily's. I tried to put in her thoughts on possibility teaching Bella self defense as a cookie trail for the future, but it seems that most of you didn't pick up on it (which is understandable, considering the main character of the OG storyline just took a punch to the face). Like most characters in fictional books, I want Brynn Price to have a clear character arc and in order to do that, some of her has to start at the bottom of the barrel. Just stick with me and trust that this story isn't being written by someone who hates Bella (this was almost a BellaxPaul story, believe it or not), but Brynn simply isn't a fan of our leading lady at this point. She didn't hit Bella to be a cool kid/badass, she hit her because she was angry and that's what she was raised to do. Fight.**

**On the topic of Paul's thoughts and opinions on Bella: those are not going to change until he finds something worth respecting in Bella. Yes, he doesn't know her at all, but he knows enough about her to know, in his own mind, that he doesn't care for her at all. He may have imprinted, but that doesn't mean all of his anger and opinions have completely reshaped themselves into butterflies and rainbows. Leech Lover is still Bella's name in Paul's head, and he doesn't see a reason to change that. The other guys though? Embry, Sam, Jared, and Quil all have their own brains and they don't see Bella as any sort of awful human being. This is still the same welcoming and warm pack, but that doesn't mean they don't hoot and holler whenever they see action unfolding. Nothing against Bella; they would give her a seat at the table any day. **

**With all this being said, please give me MORE of these types of reviews! I want to know all the thoughts, even if it's just you saying 'hating brynn rn lol' or 'why did paul do that' because that let's me know where some of your heads are in the story. There was another, long review talking about fearing my story was heading into the same path due to a trope, and I ate it up like candy. I love love love hearing everyone's positive feedback and your excitement for what's to come, but the occasional grounding feeling that comes with someone saying 'listen, i'm not too sure about this part' is amazing and makes me feel like people are looking out for me, you know?**

**On another note, I am SO relieved to know that you guys were hanging on to every word of a certain two chapters. I didn't want to make it into something too obvious because I know there is a steady line between giving the protagonist drama and doing something that's already happened a hundred times. I wish that I could have seen your reviews as they popped up and gotten to sit and evil-laugh as I wrote what was coming next, but I'm just relieved there are no more problems. **

**Now, what do you think about the comeback of the Cullens and their plan to work with the wolves? I don't know about you, but I can just imagine Rosalie's anger when she hears about it. Tell me all about it when you review, review, review!**


	22. Jokes

**JOKES**

_Paul_

"Stop, it hurts."

"We can stop at the top of the porch."

"Dude, you're hurting her."

"No, I'm pushing her, hurting is what I'm going to do to you if you don't shut your fucking mouth, Quil," I grumbled, arm wrapped around Brynn's waist as I guided her up the steps of the Price porch.

It was nearly noon and Brynn had just been released from the hospital, the doctors saying there wasn't anything they could do there that couldn't be done at home. I had been both relieved and nervous about the news; the hospital was a large, crowded place that left little to no room for accidents without witnesses, and it also gave me an easy out of any pack duties so I could continue playing Brynn's overgrown lap-dog. Now, we were back on the most dangerous ground Brynn could be on, something that James hadn't failed to mention every couple minutes on the drive back.

"Maybe we could head to Seattle," he offered, and Brynn had winced as she moved to lean forward from the backseat to slug him in the shoulder. It calmed that little bit of worry that rose in me, the idea of her leaving being almost as nauseating as the idea of her being on the reservation. "Hey, I'm just saying that there are other options."

"No, there aren't," Brynn argued, slumping back into her seat against me and rubbing her casted leg against the back of the center console. "You told me this was home, dad. I'm not running away anymore."

That was what led us here to her griping about having to walk on her own with Quil and Embry watching on in amusement every time she scowled at me. Brynn had taken to the newest wolf just as easily as she had taken to the rest, and he seemed to be just as big of a fan of her as Embry, much to my annoyance. Her fist gripped the fabric of my black T-shirt tightly as she took the last step, leaning into me as she huffed out a breath.

"You'll be back to kicking people in the head and cartwheeling with swords in no time, B," Quil chirped, ruffling her hair as he moved by us to get inside.

I didn't have to see the wince on her face to know the gesture pained her, and I leaned forward just slightly to smack Quil in the back of the head before he got into the safety of the house. "Just because the staples are out doesn't mean it isn't sore, fuckhead," I snapped, bringing my attention to the healing wound on the crown of Brynn's head.

The doctor had told us numerous times that it was healing almost abnormally fast, but that hadn't calmed my worries of it spontaneously splitting open, especially when she was constantly surrounded by rowdy idiots that didn't know rough from gentle. One misjudged move and she could be heading right back to the ER.

"Who would've thought Paul would be such a helicopter mom," Embry muttered to Brynn as he passed, smirking at the roll of my eyes it got.

"I think it's sweet," my imprint was quick to reassure, the hand in my shirt lifting to hold my cheek. The stitches in her chin had been removed along with the bandages over her nose, though there were still yellow and greenish bruises clinging to the skin. "I think it would be sweeter if you carried me the rest of the way, though."

"What happened to 'strong, independent woman'?" I teased, making sure to mumble the word 'independent' just to see her cheeks heat up at the reminder of her drug-induced words. I didn't wait for a response before lifting her into my arms, making sure the bad half of her body was the one facing away from me to avoid any bumping.

"Here comes the bride!" Quil squawked, causing everyone awaiting her arrival in the kitchen to turn and peek at us through the doorway.

"Quil," Emily scolded, spoon in her hand as she pulled a few pots and pans off the counter to create space for Brynn. "Saved you your favorite seat in the house, B."

Carefully, I sat Brynn on to the counter, though her hand slid down the front of my body to hook into my belt loop as her good leg moved to wrap around the back of my thighs, clearly keeping me there. I didn't budge, pressing a kiss against the disappearing mark on her chin before snagging a piece of chopped carrot from the cutting board.

"Thief," Emily grumbled, but her smile was warm as she narrowed her eyes at me.

"Good to have you back, kid," Sam said, stepping forward to grip Brynn's chin and turn her face downwards to check out the mark on her head. The contact had me bristling slightly, my own hand moving to rest on her thigh to keep from acting out on the possessive, overbearing instinct. "Gonna be one gnarly scar."

"Ugh, do not tell me that," the girl huffed, hand leaving my jeans to instead poke at the mark. My hand stopped hers, something we have had to talk about numerous times after Dr. O'Brien warned that too much probing could irritate the skin. "Last thing I need is to not be able to wear my hair in a bun without people thinking I was abducted by aliens and had my brain scanned."

"Do they do that?" Kim mused from her place in Jared's lap, the two of them sitting at the table. "I thought it was just needles in the eyes."

"God," Quil shuddered. "Can we change the topic?"

"When's our next appointment with the Adam's Family?" Jared asked, bringing all of our eyes over to Sam.

I could tell by the way his eyes glanced at me that I wasn't going to like what he was about to say. Miraculously, I had gotten by without having to be there for any Cullen time that the wolves had to partake in. Between the threat of Adrian and the fact that my imprint was all banged up in a hospital room, Sam hadn't even tried to get me to leave my post beside Brynn. But two more deaths had happened on the reservation, a fact that was disturbingly comforting considering the promise Adrian had made to take a new life every day. It had been another four days since Brynn had woken up, which meant that the sick fuck had drastically underestimated the speed the Pack would have. Regardless, I knew that my Spring Break had come to a close the second Brynn stepped foot on Quileute soil again.

"I'm going to be meeting with the Cullens tonight," our Alpha said slowly, eyes continuing to watch me. "And Paul will be coming with."

"Right," I laughed, the sound coming out sarcastic and bitter. I could feel Brynn's fingers slip under the hem of my shirt, gripping at my side in a silent, soothing gesture. "That'll happen."

"Paul," Sam said, my name coming out as a warning.

"You can't be serious." My eyes searched his and then looked around at the rest of the pack, who's eyes looked just as surprised as I felt. "Sam, I mean this in the least respectful way possible, but if you think I'm taking one fucking foot off this reservation while Brynn is here, you're out of your damn mind."

"That's the thing," Sam said, eyes flashing to Emily when she dropped her knife to the floor as the room erupted into shouts.

"You can't be serious!"

"Next caller, please."

"There's no way in hell."

"Sam, maybe we should talk about this."

"No," I stated, the tone of my voice sounding foreign even to my own ears as I used it to address my superior. "She's not going anywhere near them, and I'm not leaving her."

To my surprise, Emily was nodding at my words. "She's in no condition to feel confident about being around them, Sam," she said softly. "Let's at least give it a few days, let her feel better on her feet."

"Guys," Brynn said carefully, her tone speaking her thoughts for her: _this is my decision_. Her hand at my side squeezed slightly, bringing my eyes to hers, which had been on Sam ever since he had spoken. "Why do they want me there?"

"The Psychic wants to meet you," Sam explained, leaning to pick up Emily's dropped knife and hand it back to her. "She said that Bella's future was wavy because of us, but she can't see yours at all because she hasn't met you and doesn't know who to search for. There is a good chance nothing will come from it at all because your future is so rooted into the Pack, but we can't pass up the opportunity to know if something may happen to you."

"Nothing is going to happen to her," I snapped, my upper lip curling back to expose my teeth. Sam brought his shoulders back in a clear sign of 'don't fuck with me', but it didn't seem that I cared at the moment.

"Hey," Brynn was whispering, her hand sliding out from beneath my shirt and up to my face, bringing my eyes back to hers. "Nothing's going to happen to me because you're going to keep me safe, we all know that. But," she continued, building my relief just as soon as she smashed it down into a pile of nothing. "If this…" We all watched her struggle for the word she wanted to use, her eyes squeezing shut momentarily before they were opening again. "If this girl can help, then I'll go. Besides, it might be good to see them for myself, make my own judgement on them."

"They're not too bad," Embry said with a shrug, handing Quil silverware to start setting the table as he handed out plates. "I mean, as not bad as vampires can get, I guess."

"Animal drinkers," Jared added, and I watched as they all started to give more information on the Cullens.

It wasn't hard to see what they were doing as the tension in Brynn's shoulders subsided with each new fact she received about the local coven, and I found myself grateful once again for our little family. It was becoming more and more evident that any place I fell short on when it came to Brynn, the other's knew exactly how to pick up where I couldn't. Easing her mind about vampires would never be my specialty because the unadulterated hatred I had towards the creatures was far too great. But the Pack could soothe her with their information, talking about their desire to spare humans and how the head of the family was even a doctor.

"I made sure that they would all feed before we arrived," Sam was saying as he handed the bowl of potatoes to James, everyone having taken their seats at the table. "I wasn't going to risk anything. Embry will be there as a security precaution, keeping linked with Jared who will be on patrol."

"When do we leave?" Brynn asked, and I watched as she scraped her fork through her food absently.

"Baby," I whispered, leaning over to press a kiss against her neck before bringing another one down on the fabric of her hoodie that covered my mark. "You need to eat, alright? You've got one hell of a body, trust me, but it still needs nutrients to heal you."

"You're ridiculous," she muttered, cheeks flushed and her heart racing. I didn't mind the jab when it resulted in her taking a bite of her food, her casted leg kicking at my shin beneath the table.

"We'll go after we're done eating," Sam informed, looking around the table. "Jared will make sure Kim and Emily get home safe before going on patrol."

"Rin," James said softly from his place across the table from the girl. "You don't have to do this if it makes you uncomfortable."

We all watched Brynn mull over the words as she stared down at her plate, chewing slowly to give her more time before answering. The wolf inside me paced, feeling her unease and hating not being able to do anything about it. The man just soothed a hand down her back before resting underneath her shirt, my thumb stroking the soft skin.

"It'll make everything a lot easier," she finally said, resulting in the tension in the room subsiding just slightly. Kim and Emily both sent her reassuring smiles when she looked up from her plate, and I caught Jared's eye as we both smiled softly at the idea of our mates being so close. "Besides, it'll actually make me feel better. I don't think its a secret that I hate the idea of you guys working with them more than anyone else here," she continued.

"Almost anyone," I corrected over the rim of my glass of water, feeling triumphant in the little smile it got out of her.

"Almost anyone here," Brynn corrected. "Meeting them might put my mind at ease a bit, you know? Besides, if Bella Swan has been hanging around them as a little pet for this long and they've been going to High School, they can't be too threatening for a human."

"That's the badass B we know," Embry chimed in, holding his glass up in a mock toast before taking a sip. "Skips out of a hospital and into the cave of the enemy."

There were chuckles around the table, but my eyes watched Brynn the whole time. I thought that maybe being proud of her was something I would get used to, but the emotion still hit me like a freight train every single time. I could tell she felt the sudden emotion in me, her gleaming eyes looking from the Pack to me with a small, adorable squint to her eyes out of curiosity. My head shook in a silent dismissal to her unasked question, hand squeezing her thigh gently beneath the table before watching her get reimmersed into the conversation going on around us.

All my life I had felt this deep disconnection to everything around me, and I thought the way it seemed to lighten when I joined the Pack was going to be the best I ever got out of life. Now, watching her flick pieces of carrot at Quil's mouth and laugh with delight every time he (purposely) missed and had it flick off his face, I was finally realizing what that missing piece had been. I could handle the creature hunting her, could deal with her having to walk into a house full of that very same thing later this evening, because everything seemed like such a small price to pay when put next to the future she and I were going to have together.

"I'm so in love with you, Brynn Malia Price," I mumbled, leaning over once again to press a randomly placed kiss to her skin. She dropped her silverware to hold the back of my head and keep me there, turning her smiling face into my neck.

"I'm in love with you, Paul Nahele Lahote," she whispered back, and I could feel the smile on her lips as she pressed to warm, open mouthed kisses against my skin. The sensation flooded down to my lower abdomen, and I had to pull away from her quickly to keep my head on straight.

I could tell by her devilish grin that she knew exactly what she was doing, batting her eyelashes innocently as my eyes narrowed at her. "Remember how that game ended last time?" I asked her, trying to appear casual to any prying eyes as I stole the crust from her garlic bread.

"Oh, I loved how that game ended last time," she reassured, giggling when my jaw clenched ever so slightly. "Trust me."

"If you two are finished," Sam said, interrupting our little slice of privacy. "We should get going soon." My eyes remained on Brynn, who raised one eyebrow that read 'challenge' like a neon sign. "Paul," Sam pressed on, tone bordering on impatient.

"Yeah, whatever," I finally replied, my tone spacey as one of my hands crept farther up Brynn's thigh under the safety of the table.

"You two are sickening," Jared joked, the high-pitched squeak of his chair being what finally tore my attention from the smug girl beside me.

"Like you two are so much better," I shot back, laughing as he lifted a blind hand in my direction as he pressed a more than heated kiss to Kim's smiling lips. I pushed back my chair and stood, hands gripping the back of Brynn's. "You ready to meet your friendly, local vampire family?"

"Oh, I'm just dying in anticipation," she snarked, but I could detect the underlying uneasiness in her tone.

We took my new truck, a new, flashier version of the one that had been wrecked. Emily had taken it upon herself to get everything sorted out with my insurance and had somehow managed to play it off as an unknown hit and run, and once they saw the damage, they couldn't say much to disprove it. Brynn was a fan of the vehicle, fiddling with the Bluetooth stereo the second I had gotten her into the seat, playing something that I was unfamiliar with, but familiar enough with her to know she was unwinding to Taylor Swift.

"Nothing says 'de-stress' like Taylor Swift playing while you head into the mouth of the enemy," she grumbled, my hand sliding over the center console to squeeze her knee.

The drive was silent save for Sam speaking up from the backseat to offer directions. It turned out, finding my way around in wheels rather than on four legs proved to be much harder than I thought. Eventually we got to a spot that the smell alone was enough to lead me to the winding driveway, driving past a thick shade of trees before the house was suddenly there. It was much more modern than most of the houses in Forks, and I had to hide my sneer.

_Must be nice to live long enough to collect enough money for constant renovations. _

"This is it?" Brynn asked as Sam slipped out of the back seat. My eyes tracked his movements as he made his way towards the front door, hardly blinking before suddenly the door was being pulled open by a welcoming, smiling woman.

"This is it," I confirmed with a grimace, exiting the car and making my way to the passenger side. Brynn's fingers gripped my shirt harder than usual as I helped her out of the car, keeping most of her weight on me even as she got both feet on the ground. "Price," I said gently, having to repeat the word to finally bring her greenish brown eyes back up to me. "You've got this."

In all honesty, I wasn't really even sure if _I _had this. Smelling leech with the lilac scent of my mate mixed in was enough to make me bristle, but my hands were too preoccupied with holding her. I knew that Brynn had more of a spine than just about anyone I knew, but I was also aware of the fact that she liked to be reminded of her own strength every now and then. This was one of those times.

"Easy peasy," she whispered, fingers clutching at my hand as she took a hesitant step forward. "Piece of cake."

"Brynn, hi," the leech's infamous lapdog said, stepping around the fangs in the doorway to make her way outside. Her dark eyes looked at me hesitantly before moving back to Brynn. "Wow, uh. Walking already? How is that even possible?"

"I'm actually part mermaid," my imprint informed, her expression pinched as the gravel rolled under her leg and caused the left side of her body to jerk. I pressed myself more firmly into her side so she could lean against me easier, keeping my arm around her hips. "Since my fish-form has different bones than a human, it makes it a hell of a lot easier to heal."

"Oh, I like her already," a newer, deeper voice grumbled. I looked up to realize that the rest of the Cullens had made their way outside the door, Sam having taken a few steps back to keep distance between them. The guy who spoke was the buffest one of the family and seemed to be the most laid back if his carefree smirk had anything to say about it.

Subconsciously, my arm tightened around Brynn as I tried to keep a snarl from coming out. I could feel her relax against my side: clearly neither of us were fans of a vampire liking her. Bella walked alongside us, seeming to be unsure about where her species was supposed to stand on the invisible line between vampires and werewolves.

"Brynn, this is Alice, Jasper, Rosalie, Carlisle, Esme, Emmett, and Edward," she said, and I almost had to keep myself from looking surprised as she got the words out without stuttering over them once. "Everyone, this is Brynn Price and Paul."

"So, you're the one who took on Bella's right hook," the beefy one, Emmett, spoke again.

Before I even had the chance to get out my retort, I could physically feel Brynn straighten up beside me. "Yeah, and I'm the one who knocked her on her ass for it. Any other questions?"

There was a mix of emotions that flashed across the coven's faces as they took in my mates words: both of the blondes, Rosalie and Jasper, seemed to find it just as amusing as Emmett did. I could see Edward curl his lip slightly and gave the gesture right back.

"Would you like something to eat or drink?" Esme asked, a polite smile on her face that almost even had me believing it was welcoming.

Almost. "I highly doubt we've got the same tastes," I responded, shrugging innocently when Sam turned a warning glare on to me.

He hadn't actually thought I'd tag along and play _nice_, had he?

"At least come in," the woman said again, gesturing her hands towards Brynn. "Bella told us you only just got released today, I can't imagine standing is very comfortable for you."

Everyone's eyes turned to Brynn, which I could tell made her even more uncomfortable than she already was. Her head tilted forward a bit to see around my body, and I quickly stepped out of the way when I realized what she was searching for. A large, grey wolf stepped out of the trees as if beckoned by her, giving the smallest of nods at her gaze. It was Embry, reassuring her that he would be outside the whole time to make sure nothing got inside with us. Honestly, it even made me feel reassured, not being too certain that I would catch on to a foreign scent when my nose was already being so cruelly assaulted by our current company.

"That sounds great, thanks," Brynn said, taking a hesitant step that seemed to push everyone into motion.

As much as I hated to admit it, whoever had designed the house hadn't done a bad job. Hardwood flooring, glass panels, and an open concept made the place seem less like a death trap of creatures that went bump in the night and more like a high class family living on their own piece of land somewhere pricey. They led us up a flight of stairs, much to Brynn's dismay seeing as she refused to let me carry her, before we entered a living room setting. Sam, Brynn, and I immediately claimed a three seater couch on the far side of the room, watching as the coven situated themselves however they saw fit.

"I can see her," the short, pixie looking one chimed suddenly. Alice, maybe? "There isn't much of her future to pick up on that's actually useful, just visions of her in school, talking to people I'm guessing aren't involved in the pack."

"Is he in any of them?" I asked quickly, leaning forward in my seat and feeling the soothing touch of my imprint as she slipped her fingers into the bend of my elbow.

"I don't-." She made a sound of frustration, eyes glancing up at the ceiling as she seemingly stared into nothing.

"Every situation that involves Brynn and Adrian must involve you as well," Edward spoke up, looking to Alice with a furrowed brow. "She can't see anything deeper."

"Why the hell not?" I demanded, nearly standing up when Brynn's grip on my arm grounded me. I took to wrapping an arm around her instead, attempting to keep a level head despite feeling anything but level.

"She can't see past you and your pack of mutts," the blonde girl hissed, a growl coming from my throat the moment the words left her mouth.

"Very helpful," Brynn snapped, eyes narrowed on the vampire. "If I had known we were making trashy jokes to one another, I would've prepared jokes about blonde bimbos before arriving."

"Luckily, I came prepared," Rosalie shot back. Her mouth had just opened on another flurry of words when Carlilse interrupted her.

"Rose," he soothed, though his gaze on her was the equivalent to a parent scolding a toddler. "We asked them here for our help, not to patronize them. We know how difficult this is for Brynn, the least we can do is be polite."

"What do you know about this vampire, Brynn?" Esme asked, immediately bringing the tension in the room down with the gentle tone of her voice. "Anything at all could help Alice know what to search for in an attempt to catch him off Quileute land."

"I don't know much," Brynn admitted, her hand leaving me to push her long hair out of her face. "My dad said that he's a real sick fuck, for starters. He targets pregnant women, stalks them until they give birth before killing their babies in front of them. His pattern changes there, though; sometimes he changes the mother and leaves her to change, sometimes he kills her, too."

The words seemed to pull the blonde's head out of her ass as she stiffened, her eyes narrowing at Brynn with suspicion this time rather than disgust. Regardless, I still shifted my body to keep her mostly out of the bitch's view.

"What would he want with you, then?" She asked, her tone still stiff.

"My mother was one of the women he stalked throughout her pregnancy," my imprint said, swallowing before continuing. "Somehow, she knew to expect him. The day my parents brought me home, she went inside before my father had even gotten the car in park. Suddenly, the house erupts into flames and my dad is speeding out of the driveway. He's been hunting me ever since."

"Another tracker," Jasper whispered, something that seemed to unnerve the group of vampires. "We killed one like him before, we can do it again."

"No," I said, my eyes flickering to each face in the room as if daring them to argue with me. "You find him, you hold him down until we get there."

"Can you shove your pride up your ass for a second and try to think about her?" Rosalie snapped, stepping further into the room.

It wasn't the right thing to say. I was on my feet instantly, a snarl leaving my throat as my hands shook at my sides. Sam had gotten a hold on me before I got more than three steps closer to the tick, but it was Brynn's voice that held me back.

"Listen, dude," the brunette said, hand pressing to her left side. I hadn't realized how quickly I had stood up, but the action had clearly jostled her. I was quick to shove Sam's arm off of me and make my way back to her, replacing my hand with her and mumbling an apology against her neck. "The reason he's telling you not to kill him is because he is thinking of me, alright? I get it; you're mortal enemies, can't play nice, la di da. But don't run your mouth before you know what you're talking about." Her eyes scanned the room to make sure she had the attention of every vampire there. "This prick killed my mother and took away any chance of normalcy I had as a child and now he's after me. Me. When this bastard dies, _I'm_ going to be the one delivering that final blow. I'm not ashamed to say I need your help, but I'm also not going to sit back and let you guys do something that _I _need to."

There was a long pause as everyone took in her words. Most of the vampires nodded their heads in understanding, but a few looked to be unsure of the choice of action. I kept my mouth shut and decided that Brynn could hold her own to the uncertain stares she was receiving, though I didn't keep my growl to myself when Jasper had the audacity to actually argue with my girl.

"With all do respect," he started slowly, eyes glancing from me to Sam as if we would lunge at him just for speaking against her. "Getting involved in any vampire business is dangerous. The best course of action would be to let the supernatural handle the supernatural."

"No," Rosalie spoke, surprising more than half of the people, both dead and alive, in the room. "This is her life she had taken away from her. We will give her this."

My eyes found the impossible gold of the vampire woman, narrowing slightly as she met my gaze. I was searching for some sort of unspoken threat, a possible joke at the tip of her tongue, but I couldn't find a single thing. Shockingly, even as her nose scrunched at the bridge in disgust, she gave me the smallest nod of agreement.

_We will give her this. _

"Okay," Brynn said carefully, worrying at her lip as she sat up slowly. "So what's the plan?"

**AN: Hello, hello! Sorry this chapter took a minute, but classes and assignments have started up again and I am beginning to fall victim to the life of a student. With that being said, what did you all think about the meetings with the Cullens? The idea for Rosalie to be a fan of Brynn was proposed in the reviews, and I almost died reading it because in my notes for the story, underlined, was 'Rosalie sees herself in Brynn?'. Not the same exact thought process, but still close enough to surprise me. But Brynn is finally at home, the Pack is on nonstop go mode, and Paul seems to constantly be having an internal battle of what he thinks is the best course of action. Poor kid. What do you guys think would be some good ideas? What should they do next? Tell me all about it when you review, review, review!**


	23. Truth

**TRUTH**

_Brynn_

A huff left my lips as I sat myself down on the couch, lifting my casted leg up onto the coffee table to start wrestling the buckles away to get the bulky thing off. It was something that Paul had told me multiple times to stop doing because of the chance of me making things worse or having someone knock into it too hard, but I assumed he hadn't ever felt the cruel reality of having an itch in a place that was inaccessible if not otherwise freed.

"It's so weird that you're able to stand doing that," Bella said from the cushion next to me, Kim raising her eyebrows in silent agreement as she flipped through a magazine at the end of the couch. "When my leg was broken, I was hardly able to move it the first month."

"Really?" I asked, looking from the pale girl beside me and down to my leg once again. It was still sore, there was no doubting that, but walking and light movement were getting easier by the day. "Maybe I've got a touch of the werewolf gene. That would be the perfect plot twist, right?"

With the similarities between Bella and I, what with being hunted by deadly creatures with red eyes and bad attitudes, the Cullens and the Pack had come to some sort of agreement on a babysitting schedule. While the Cullens fed and did patrols of their own, Bella would be found on the reservation, going everywhere that I and whoever our wolfy bodyguard of the day went. When the schedules were reversed and it was the wolves needing to rest and patrol, I would be dropped into the laps of the Cullens', something that still didn't set well with Paul.

He had voiced his opinion on the situation every chance he got, and more times than not the rest of the Pack agreed with him. Usually it was Sam and I tag teaming all of them, trying to rationalize that it was better to have me with a group of capable protectors than in the arms of exhausted wolves. To soothe him, I had reassured Paul that I would be with him any second he was on two legs, even if that meant drawing shapes into his back while he slept.

Jacob wasn't in much better spirits than Paul, unsurprisingly. He never showed up whenever Bella was at my house or Emily's, and he didn't ask questions whenever he came around after she left. We knew about the voicemails Bella had left and the times she attempted to try and see him, but none of us knew what to say to either one of them. She had made her bed, a bed Jacob knew she would make, and now they both had to lie in it.

To everyone's surprise, I was starting to think that the Cullens weren't all that bad. The main turning points were Rosalie, Emmett, and Esme. Esme was like the mother I never had, slaving over sandwiches and beverages until I begged her to stop because I physically couldn't consume anymore before she turned her attention to having Carlisle check my casts and bruises. Emmett was almost like the wolves, though I would never dare tell any of them about that. He was always up for shittalking and jokes, which more often than not resulted in the both of us cracking up when one of us stumbled over our words or went too far.

Then, there was Rosalie. The first time meeting her, I had been so certain that she would be my least favorite of the Cullens. Between her upturned nose and her bad mouthing the Pack, there didn't seem a chance for her to redeem herself in my eyes. There was never something more untrue. I wasn't sure when exactly it had happened, but that woman and I were steadily growing into an actual friendship. It was weird to think about, so I tried to never give my time to second guess that fits of giggles shared with the blonde, or the whispers to each other whenever one of her faux relatives did something we would find stupid.

I had quickly caught on to her disliking for Bella Swan, and it was something I jumped on almost immediately. After all, the rest of the Cullens seemed to view the girl in a golden light; my curiosity was through the roof when I caught the glares Rosalie would shoot Bella every time she walked inside, just to turn a warm and welcoming smile on to me when I came in behind her.

"She wants to die," Rosalie had explained, cutting up fruit one afternoon while I sat at the kitchen table. "She's smart enough, pretty enough, and young enough to go after every little thing she could ever want in this world, and she wants to die."

It took me a minute to understand what she was saying. The secret of Bella's suicide attempt during the Cullens disappearance had gotten out almost instantly, and it didn't take long for it to slip around me. For a moment, I was thinking that maybe Bella's depression seeped deeper than just the disappearance of her undead boyfriend, but then the lightbulb in my mind stuttered on.

"Oh, my God," I whispered, a hand coming up to my mouth as the understanding leveled through me. "She wants to be one of you."

"Yes," Rosalie confirmed, one of her perfectly shaped brows raising just slightly in indignation. "She had us vote the night we came back, you know? Every single one of them said yes, like taking away her life was as easy as standing around and raising our hands."

It was the conversation that led into the cruel past that Rosalie had once lived through and what had happened to her to result in such permanent change. To say the least, I saw her in an entirely different light from that moment on. Maybe it was simply just my distaste for vampires, but I had never considered the possibility of any of them actively despising what they were. But Edward, Rosalie, and Carlisle were all evidence to the small portion of vampires that didn't embrace their immortality with open arms, but instead turned their backs on it.

"That's why I don't find you entirely insufferable," Rosalie had teased after finishing up with her story, walking around the counter to set the bowl of fruit down in front of me and take the chair closest to me. "I see a lot of myself in you, Brynn. Maybe not the me now, but the me that I was before, the one that matters. Someone was successful in taking your life from you, even if your heart is still beating, and now you're wanting your dramatic revenge."

It was strange to create such a bond with someone that I never would have found myself willingly being around. Paul was cautious of the newly formed friendship between the vampire and I, but I could see him trying to be as supportive as he knew how. Any time I had plans to go to the Cullens' or even just leave the reservation to spend time with Rosalie, I watched the hesitancy battle the desire to encourage me in his eyes, but he was always driving me to the treaty line, telling me to be careful and that he loved me, before kissing me goodbye. I understood his internal conflict without having to ask; just because I had found it within myself to have a little trust for the exact species I had wanted to keep away from didn't mean that I was supposed to expect him to dive into that trust head first.

"Your ribs don't hurt anymore either, do they?" Emily asked from her place in the recliner, across the coffee table from me. "That can't be normal, B."

The sudden plummet back into reality had my mind reeling for a response. "Maybe I'm mentally blocking it," I said with a shrug. "Can't pay attention to physical pain when I'm hanging out with vampires and werewolves trying to protect me from a rogue vampire that's actively trying to kill me."

"Are you still taking your pain medicine?" Kim asked, setting her magazine down. All three of the girls wore the same worried expression.

"Um," I thought for a second, trying to remember the last time I had taken them. "Not really, now that I think about it. Paul was reminding me before he got back on patrol, and now I've just been completely forgetting about it. Besides, whenever he's around nothing really hurts, anyway."

"So Paul's presence takes away the pain?" Bella asked, and I could tell by the look on her face how skeptical she was of the words.

"Not his presence, no," I mumbled. I thought back to the feeling his hand against the left side of my body felt, that automatic relief that came with his body heat. "It's his touch, really. The second I feel his hand on my ribs or my arm, it takes so much of the aching away."

"And your ribs are practically healed now," Emily said slowly. "Which is probably the place he touches the most, what with helping you walk and laying down and everything."

There was a long silence that followed her words. I wore a confused expression of my own now, taking in what Emily wasn't saying aloud. The possibility of denying it was nonexistent; the fact was that Paul's touch had not only acted as a natural pain reliever, but had healed the breaks in my ribs entirely over time. It explained the lack of pain in my arm and leg as well. There had been so many times he removed the braces, which should have still been casts, to help me relax the sore bones or to shower without fear of ruining the materials.

"That isn't possible, is it?" I asked softly, feeling beneath my chin for the scar that now marked the area. That also shouldn't have been entirely healed, but how many times had Paul's lips pressed to the area?

"Emily, when the accident happened, was Sam able to make you heal faster?" Bella asked, bringing all of our attention to the oldest woman.

She shook her head. "No, not even slightly," she admitted, her gaze far away as she stared at my broken leg. "Brynn, you've said before that you can feel his emotions sometimes, right?"

"Yeah?" I asked, confused. "When they're really intense, it's like there's two roads inside of me and each of our feelings has its own route. If he's feeling angry, scared, uneasy...I can tell."

"Has it always been like that?" Kim asked, moving off the couch to sit in the space between the furniture and the table to see me better. "Sometimes I can tell that Jared needs me, but that's it."

I took a second to think over the question, trying to remember when the intensified version of what I felt before had sprouted. The beginning was exactly like Kim said; I could tell when Paul wanted me, could feel his longing whenever we were apart, but that was it. Then I realized the time stamp and I could feel my cheeks heat up slightly.

"It started after we had sex the first time," I explained. "But I'm guessing that doesn't explain anything, because you and Sam have been together for nearly a year."

"Did anything…" Kim trailed off for a second, and from the way her eyes diverted from mine I could tell what she was about to say embarrassed her. "I mean, did anything abnormal happen?"

"No?" I said, unsure. "I mean, there's the bite, but I think anyone gets into a little teeth play every once in a while."

"Bite?" Emily perked up, also moving from the recliner to sit on the floor across the coffee table. "What bite?"

Shyly, I moved the collar of my sweater to the side, exposing the bite mark that was still very present on my skin. The doctors had seemed alarmed by it when they saw, but I had assured them it was just a BDSM situation and they never brought it up again. Now, looking at the faces of my Pack sisters and Bella, I could tell the mark wasn't something the rest of them ever dived into before.

"Wow," Bella said, reaching out a hand towards the mark. I allowed it until her fingers touched the healed skin, jerking away quickly at the ice-cold touch.

"Jesus Christ, Bella," I gasped, rubbing at the mark to attempt to rid myself of the goosebumps. "Do you need gloves, dude?"

"What?" she asked, surprised as she raised her fingers to her cheeks. "My fingers are fine, your skin is just on fire."

Emily and Kim both touched Bella's hands, confirming that they weren't of any abnormal temperature. Disbelieving, I reached out my own hand and was shocked to find that her's were completely fine, not nearly cold enough to warrant such a drastic reaction from me. I sat while both Emily and Kim touched the mark, reacting in the same exact way to both of them.

"This is weird," Emily said after a pause, all of us trying to wrap our heads around the new information. "Does Sam know about this?"

"I don't know," I informed them, my good hand still smoothing over the raised skin of the mark. "Paul said he was going to ask him, but with everything going on I'm guessing he didn't get the chance with everything that happened."

"Sam told me that your smell was different, that it had more of Paul in it, but we thought that it might just be because of the sex, but now I'm thinking it's something different."

"What happens when Paul touches it?" Bella asked.

"I mean, it's hot?" I shrugged, took in their expressions, and rolled my eyes. "It's physically hot, you horn-dogs. Actually, it's kind of sexually hot, too. It's just this flood of...possession, I guess? It makes me feel really warm, safe, and just...aroused."

The conversation paused as the screen door in the kitchen pulled open, all of our eyes going wide and our bodies still. None of us moved to check the time, but it was hours before Paul and Jared were supposed to be off patrol.

At least that's what we thought before the two boys walked into the room.

"Is it really three o'clock already?" Bella asked, unfreezing us from our state of fear as she checked her phone. "Wow."

"Price," Paul gruffed, making the hand on my mark fall away as he sauntered behind the couch to get to me. "You know just as well as I do that you're not supposed to have your leg out like that."

His words were scolding, but the warm way his lips pressed to mine as he leaned over the back of the couch diffused any opportunity for me to feel guilty for disobeying both him and the doctor's orders. My hand moved into his hair, scraping gently and relishing in the sound it got out of him as we kissed, pouting slightly when he pulled away and pressed his lips to his still very exposed mark on my body.

"Telling dirty stories about me?" Paul teased against the shell of my ear, and that combined with the warmth still radiating from my mark was enough to make the pit of my stomach loop.

"Only the good parts," I promised, but my voice was so hushed and breathy that I doubted it sounded like a very good comeback.

Much to my disappointment, he left my head leaning back to round the couch, starting to fix my leg back into its brace and buckle the stupid thing up. I scowled at the back of his head before catching Emily's curious, watchful eyes as he moved and fiddled with the broken part of me. I knew what she was thinking, wondering how I could possibly not be in pain as the leg was jostled and moved, but all I could do was shrug my response. In all honesty, it felt _better_ with Paul messing with it.

"Damn, Paul," Jared whistled, catching sight of my shoulder as I went to pull my collar back up. "What'd you do, bite until you hit her bone? B, blink twice if you're being held against your will."

Paul glanced over his shoulder at me with a smirk, warm and amused eye looking from mine to the where the mark was now covered. I blinked twice, very slowly, and laughed as his own eyes rolled. "Yeah, right," he scoffed, setting my redone leg back on the table before standing. "If it was so bad, you wouldn't have had me do it every single time."

"Paul!" I gasped, able to feel the heat in my cheeks as I swatted at him, only getting air as he stepped back with a chuckle. Everyone was whistling now, making my eyes roll as hard as they ever had before. "You people are completely awful," I stated, tucking my good hand beneath my casted arm in what I hoped looked like a stern expression.

"Paul," Emily said, voice still filled with amusement. "What do you feel whenever you touch Brynn's-"

"Emily!" Paul yelped with false surprise. "I never kiss and tell."

It started up another round of laughter, even Bella snickering as she held her hands over her red face. She still didn't fit in with the light heartedness that came with the Pack, but she had been coming around long enough that I was getting used to hearing her noises of surprise and humor along with the rest of ours.

"Quit, jackass," Emily huffed, shaking her head with a smile. "Brynn's broken leg and arm. What do you feel whenever you touch them?"

Paul moved closer to me once again, leaning down to lift me up to situate me into his lap. Bella wasn't entirely clueless and moved to Kim's previous seat at the opposite end of the couch to give him space.

"It hurts," he answered with a shrug, eyebrows pulling down when he saw Jared's expression. "What? I think it's just the bond reminding me that we can feel each other's hurt and shit."

"Your body takes away her pain," Bella whispered in slight awe, blinking at us. "Brynn, that's why your ribs healed so quickly, why you're able to walk and can wear braces instead of casts. Paul's touch absorbs your pain, and he heals fast enough to not really notice what he's doing."

"What?" I could feel Paul's arm stiffen around my abdomen, his glance cutting over Bella entirely to look at Emily instead. "What the hell is the leech lover talking about, Emily?"

"Brynn was telling us about the mark you gave her," Emily explained, bringing her hands up to rest on the table. Jared shifted where Kim rested back against his chest, clearing paying closer attention. "About how she's able to feel your connection more and is more in-tune with your emotions."

I didn't have to look back to know Paul's stare had moved to me, but I did anyway. I was right; those intense, confused eyes were boring into mine the second I turned my head, his thumb rubbing absently against the skin of my side. I could practically hear his thoughts as he looked at me.

"Feel my emotions?" He asked, brows dipping. "I thought that was just the normal bond? Same as anything? I could feel when she needed me, I figured she just felt when I was thinking about her."

"No," both Kim and Emily interjected, but it was only Emily who continued. "We can all feel when our imprint needs us, but what Brynn feels towards you is entirely different. It's like it heightened with that bite. And we also think that, as crazy as it sounds, every time you touch one of the injuries on her body, it speeds up the healing process completely."

"Holy shit," Jared said unceremoniously. "All the times the doctors and nurses said that it was crazy how quick Brynn woke up, how fast her body seemed to be taking to healing…"

"Imprints aren't just perfect people to carry on the gene-pool; they're supposed to be helpful, just as strong as the wolf they're bonded to. What if this is part of that?" Emily asked, a finger at her lips as she thought.

We stayed in that living room long after the sun went down, everyone tossing around different theories and meaning behind the ideas. Even Bella came up with a few, recommending I bite Paul just to see if he could feel me in those short seconds before he healed. Both Kim and Emily planned on trying it out, something that had Jared actually blushing as Kim agreed to it like a homework assignment she couldn't wait to do. The screen door opening again was what finally brought us out of our personal meeting, all three of us girls taking in the relaxed stature of the boys to know there wasn't a threat coming in.

"What the hell?" Sam asked as he walked in, Paul rising to his feet and bringing me with him. "What's going on? Is this an intervention?"

"Yes, Sam," I said softly, putting my hand on his shoulder as I walked past him. "I think it's time we finally had a talk about-"

"Leave him alone, B," Jared groaned, helping Kim to her feet with a yawn. "Poor guy is about to have his innocence ripped away from him for the sake of an experiment."

"Which is exactly why he needs a little humor in his life, Jare!" I argued, but allowed Paul to guide me towards the kitchen nonetheless, Bella behind us.

We said a quick round of goodbyes to everyone and walked out with Kim and Jared, Kim promising to keep my posted whilst Jared asked for us to keep him in our thoughts and prayers. We got into the truck silently, Bella slipping into the back in what was slowly becoming a routine whenever she stayed after dark on the reservation.

"Mind Reader pissed you're late?" Paul asked as he drove, not even sparing a glance in the rearview mirror to see Bella's reaction to the question.

I did, though. Both Bella and I were surprised by the random question, Paul usually keeping his mouth shut when it came to Bella, but especially when it came to asking her questions beyond the usual insults. Her dark eyes found mind in the low lighting, wide and surprised, and I couldn't do much more than shrug.

"He called a couple times," she admitted softly, illuminating the backseat as she checked her phone. "I texted him and explained we just got caught up in talking."

"How's he treating you, anyway?" I asked, busying myself with turning up the heat. I missed Paul's old truck more and more each day; this one was nicer, but it lacked a space in the center for me to sit close to my boyfriend and soak up all the warmth he had to offer. "None of his typical stalking, controlling, 'I'm going to abandon you if you step out of line' stuff?"

"Brynn," she said my name like what I figured a disappointed grandmother would. "He isn't bad to me, he was just doing what he thought was right before."

I didn't respond as we pulled up to the invisible line that separated Quileute territory from that of the Cullens'. A silver Volvo waited a few yards in front of us, the lights off as Edward Cullen leaned against it. I didn't try to keep my thoughts to myself, something I had taken to doing every single time I got within viewing distance of the vampire.

_Leave her in the woods again and I'll kill you. Stab a fiery stake through your empty, undead head. You decided to drag her into your mess, now you take care of her every step of the way._

It wasn't even that I saw Bella as family or felt like she was worthy of my protection; it was simply the fact that there was a girl with a spine hidden beneath all the wreckage Edward had turned Bella into, and that girl deserved any help she could get from me. Besides, Jacob wouldn't have been put through so much hell if not for the Bella and Edward Saga, another thing that I fully blamed on the stupid vampire.

I wasn't the only one who thought so, either. Rosalie had told me plenty of times how she felt about her brother's idiotic antics of falling in love with a human and all the messes it created not only for them, but for the people surrounding Bella.

Bella got out of the car with a quiet goodbye that only I responded to, and I was pleased when I didn't have to put a hand on Paul's arm to keep him from driving away. With the routine of us dropping the girl off, I had also made sure to watch the way Edward greeted her, which was sweet enough if you took away the fact that he was stone cold, and to make sure she got safely into the car before letting my wolf take us back to either his house.

With all of the babysitting being done and all the work that the wolves had to do, Paul had decided that the best way to keep both of our minds off of it was beginning to fix up his home. We had gotten the kitchen completely finished after a few trips to a local hardware store, though it took days to complete it between patrol, sleeping, and the Cullens. The next thing we planned to tackle was finishing the section that he had been building, though we weren't sure when we would have that much time available to us.

"You're pretty quiet over there," Paul mumbled, shifting his hand from mind to instead squeeze my knee. "Do I need to pull out the voice or will you talk about it willingly?"

My head jerked to look at him. "What voice?"

"You know the one," he said with a smirk, purposely keeping his eyes on the road instead of looking at me. I could _feel_ how smug he was. "The one that makes your heart hiccup and your eyes go crossed for a few seconds."

"You ass!" I gasped, the smile on my face and amusement in my tone a promise that I wasn't genuinely offended. "My eyes do not cross! And there isn't even a _voice_, so get over yourself."

"Oh, yeah?" My spine went ramrod straight at the husky sound, my throat swallowing around the sudden lump that was sitting in it. I blinked a couple times, as if my eyes simply wouldn't adjust just because of a little pitch change. "Funny, because I'm pretty sure how you smell right now would tell me otherwise."

"Fuck off," I muttered, voice weak.

It drove me insane how easily he could have me completely unraveled, a skill that I hadn't perfectly mastered over him yet. I knew I had the ability to make him putty in my hands, it was just the confidence to drive me into it that I was lacking. But now, watching his shoulders shake in silent laughter, the determination to get my revenge seemed to overrule all self doubt in my mind.

I unbuckled myself slowly, though I knew there was no sneaking when it came to having a supernatural being in such close quarters. He glanced at me out of the corner of his eye, that same shit-eating smirk still on his face before he looked back to the road.

"You know," I said slowly, wincing as I pulled my back leg beneath my body. "You talk an awful lot of game," I continued, stretching my good leg across his lap before pulling myself into it. I felt him shift beneath me, felt the car jerk slightly as he swore under his breath. "For someone who is so easy to unravel."

"Feeling pretty solid right now," he muttered, his grip knuckle-white on the steering wheel as his free hand shifted my hips to pull my closer across his lap, making the tent in his jeans obvious as it pressed against me.

"See?" I purred against his neck, feeling his hand slide beneath my sweater to press against my skin, effectively pushing our chests together. "Hardly even touched you, and look how worked up you are already."

I rocked my hips against him in a slow, steady rhythm that earned a low, guttural growl from the man. I hid my smile against the skin of his neck, sucking already disappearing marks into the golden skin as the hand on my back slipped down to grip my ass. It took me a moment to realize we weren't moving anymore, but I didn't look out the window to see whether we had gotten to a destination or were just on the side of the road. I was too caught up in him, in the sighs I was pulling from him just from easy movement.

"Careful," he breathed, his now freed hand moving into my hair and lightly, still so mindful of my injuries, jerked to bring my face back. It was just enough for our noses to slot next to one another, his breath hot where it hit my lips. I knew the word was a warning, something he used to signal when I was breaching into territory he wouldn't go back from, and just like all the other times I pressed harder now.

"Fuck careful," I breathed, sighing in relief as his lips found mine in a frenzy.

We kissed like we hadn't been able to for weeks, and when it came to this type of heated, passionate kiss, I knew there was a reason behind that. I had been too delicate for Paul to even consider it, but when I was pushing myself into his lap and grinding on him like he was a pole, I guess there were exceptions that could be made.

With a quick lift of his hips and a tear from the leggings I wore, he was already slipping deep inside of me. I moaned loud at the feeling, my head falling back in relief that allowed him access to any part of me that he wanted. His lips, teeth, and tongue found my jaw, my neck, before reclaiming his mark all over again and sending me skyrocketing with the sensation of his teeth once again sinking into the sensitive skin. I came down to his hands on my hips, keeping my hips lifted and driving himself into my so I didn't have to put any weight on my leg.

I was so _full_. It felt like between the pleasure of finally having him again paired with the emotion of my mark being reignited was enough to drive my crazy. My fingernails dug into his chest as I rotated my hips slightly, purring in response to the sound the movement got from him. Heavy breathing and the errotic sound of skin on skin were the playlist for this moment, somehow adding even _more_. My lips found his ear, nibbling at the skin of his earlobe softly as I could feel him building me up to another climax as well as bringing himself to his first one.

"Missed this," I admitted in a whine as I felt him slam into me at a new angle, one that made my toes curl and my voice pitch higher.

"Yeah, baby?" Paul asked, the sound of his voice sending a whole new roll of pleasure running through me. Maybe it was pathetic how easily something as simple as a voice could rattle me, but when it was paired with the body and heart of Paul Lahote, I couldn't find it in me to be all that shy about my little fetish. "Pretty little pussy miss my cock?"

I hummed pitifully in response, seemingly the only coherent sound I was able to get out as his pace kept solid on a particular spot that had me seeing stars. My nails in his chest dragged down to his hips instead, using them as support to lift my hips up with to bring me down every time his hips shifted up. That was all it took, too; I was wrecked, his fingers coming up to cover my lips as I called out my pleasure, body tightening around his with each new wave that rocked through me.

I waited until the telltale signs of his orgasm before I was making my move, able to pinpoint my own possessive side just long enough to bring me back to what I was supposed to do. I leaned against Paul's body as I felt him release into me with a groan of my name, something I couldn't help but sigh at before I was sinking my teeth into the exact same spot he had bit me. I could feel his body shake at the sensation, could taste his blood in my mouth as my teeth sank even deeper, and I only pulled back when his hips stilled and his breathing evened out.

"Fuck," he sighed, his thumb sliding over my bottom lip to remove traces of blood that were there. "You're a fucking minx, you know that?"

I giggled as I leaned over to wipe a hand over the fog-covered window, my eyes widening as I looked up into the light of my front porch. "Are you crazy?" I hissed, my fingers quickly raking through my hair to try and right myself, as if I wasn't still sitting on his dick.

"Me? You're the one that went all power hungry before climbing into my lap, did you expect me to just let that go?" He chuckled, his abdomen flexing as he easily and gently pulled me off his lap before bringing his shorts back up. "I've got a spare shirt in the backseat."

I moved to grab for the fabric, freezing when I caught myself in the rearview mirror. I hadn't ever been necessarily insecure, knowing that I wasn't something awful to look at and accepting that I wasn't anything special, either. But now, looking at the way my skin seemed to have a sudden light to it, the flush of color that clung to my cheeks, and the way my lips were kiss-bitten and swollen, I thought that maybe I had been selling myself short.

Paul caught on to what I was doing, his grin genuine as he pulled me to be more centered in the mirror. "Fucking gorgeous, aren't you?" He asked, and I didn't nod but I didn't scoff, either.

Somehow, we made our way into the house. I made a beeline for the stairs, hoping to whatever Almighty being that was listening that by some miracle, my father just wouldn't be awake. That hope crumbled in three seconds when my feet hit the stairs, Paul sauntering lazily into the house without a single care in the world.

"Brynn?" My dad called from the living room, making me freeze in my tracks. I didn't have to see Paul to know he was chuckling; I could fucking feel it in my chest. "Can you come down here a minute? I wanted to run something by you."

"Now's not a good time, dad!" I called, taking another two steps as silently as I could. "I'll come back down in a minute, I just spilled something on my shirt and need to change."

"Very clever," Paul teased against my ear as he appeared suddenly behind me, slipping his arms around my waist to gently lift me over the last few steps.

"Oh, alright," my dad called in response.

Safe. No harm, no foul. I huffed out the biggest, most relieved sound that had ever left my lips as I dressed quickly, Paul taking the liberty to start testing out the healing theory now as I continuously had to jerk my left arm and leg away from him to finish changing. My head had just lifted after tying a pair of pajama shorts around my waist, having to do a double take as I saw the bite mark on Paul's shoulder, healed but still present as if it were a scar.

And then, the celebration came crashing down.

"Wait a damn minute! Paul Lahote, what the _hell_ did you get on my daughter's shirt?"

**AN: Little steamy to make up for the slow pace, I hope it was worth it. Brynn and Rosalie are eloping, how sweet! Just kidding, I love Emmett and Paul too much to put them through that, but it would be an interesting idea. But, Bella is hanging out with the imprints? I bet that idea rips Jake apart, huh? Poor kid, we haven't seen much of him lately. Hope he's doing alright. What did you guys think of the imprint bond mark's little magic? I know it's a common thing, but I also just feel like the bond is too intense to just stop where it does, you know? Brynn is not a Team Edward girl, how do we feel about that? Seems like she might be warming to Bella, slowly but surely. Tell me all your thoughts when you review, review, review! **


	24. Black

**BLACK**

_Paul_

I frowned at the plate of fries sitting in front of me, resisting the urge to glance up at the girl working behind the counter. If I did, she would win and I was having a good time pretending that I didn't have to give in to her every want and need. I risked a glance out of the corner of my eye when a family came up to the counter, watching her lips pull into a kind smile that had her eyes scrunching up slightly at the corners as she accepted their money and opened the register to hand back the change.

Really, it wasn't fair that Brynn Price could look so unbelievably _edible_ when I was trying with everything I had to appear annoyed with her. It was all because she had insisted on coming into the diner for her first shift, her arm and leg having been out of the cast for a meek 24 hours and apparently giving her the wild idea that she was unbreakable. After finding out about the healing opportunities our bond allowed, I had been making a point to press my hand to Brynn's wounds as often as possible, even biting back my lectures on her needing the casts in favor of healing her myself.

And fuck, did it work. Even the bruising on the broken areas had gone away, leaving her skin looking entirely unscathed from the accident aside from the scar beneath her chin and a few others that were randomly placed. What was even stranger was the scar that she had left on me; unlike she, Emily, and Kim had assumed, the part of my skin Brynn had dug her teeth into was still indented from her teeth. My hand came up absently to rub over my shirt against the mark, unable to stop the sudden rush of pride I felt at adorning something so intimate, so possessive from my imprint.

Even better than wearing the mark was the fact that there was now an equal playing field when it came to our emotions. All the times Brynn had caught me staring at her due to the love I was pushing into our bond were now an experience of my own. They happened at the strangest times, too: I would be placing the roof on the new part of the house and feel an almost tingling in my chest, turning to see those eyes watching me with a small smile on my face; I would be stretching in the morning after we got out of bed, finding her eyes in the mirror as that feeling flooded my chest; or the times I would be half asleep, exhausted from patrol, and I would throw an arm over her waist to pull her closer.

"You really love me that much, Price?" I'd ask as the feeling stirred me slightly, laying on my stomach with her reading beside me.

Brynn's eyes were always bright when I caught her; the dark green dwindling into a forest-y brown around the pupil boring into my eyes in a way that had been unfamiliar at first, never having caught her in this intense emotional state before, but I was quickly growing accustomed to it.

"You'll never know how much," she would respond.

Now, watching her refill the mugs of trucker's and locals sitting at the opposite end of the bar, I knew how untrue her words were. Any amount she loved me would have to be doubled to equal what I loved her, that was something I was certain of.

It was why I was at Beck and Call's now, unable to push away the unease of her being out and about for the first time in a place that wasn't heavily guarded. The redhead, Victoria, had completely fallen off the face of the earth, and there were no new sightings of Adrian, but that didn't mean I was going to let up on feeling that Brynn needed a round the clock team just to keep her in one piece. I could tell that every day that went by without a word from the vampire was spinning a tighter web of tension around Brynn's body, though she played it off well in the faces of her father and the Pack. There was no fooling me, though; I would watch how her eyes would get unfocused randomly and could tell by the way her head would fall exactly what it was she was thinking about. It hurt to see her so stressed and uneasy, but I knew that was the reason behind her insisting on going to work this weekend and to school on Monday.

She wanted as many distractions as she could get.

"You're new," a male's voice said, bringing me out of my reverie to instead look for who was speaking. "Are you from around here? I'm Bryce."

It was some kid from Forks, his sandy-colored hair falling near his blue eyes as they lit up when Brynn turned to look at him. His smile was wide, too wide, as he pressed his arms against the bar to lean towards her more. I bristled at the sight of someone else taking an interest in what was so obviously mine, annoyed not for the first time at the fact that humans had such a poor sense of smell that he couldn't tell she smelt so obviously and insanely strong of another man.

Of _me_.

"Brynn, hi. Just moved here a couple months ago, actually," Brynn answered sweetly, making me wish for the upteenth time that she didn't have to look so welcoming when she was being polite. I could see the effect it had on the kid, his ego practically visible as it swelled under her gaze like it was being stroked. "My dad and I are on the reservation."

She didn't ask, but that didn't stop Boy Wonder from telling her more about himself. "Really? That's sick," he said enthusiastically, and I couldn't have held back my snort if I tried. Which, for the record, I didn't try. "I live next door, in Forks."

Brynn's smile had gone a bit tight around the corners, clearly not wanting to be impolite but also not caring for the conversation. "Sick," she said in response, mocking his previous vocabulary. Was it really hard to tell just how little interest she had in the conversation? Every little thing about her expression was telling to me.

"Yeah, so. What do you like to do for fun? Do you surf?" He asked, getting braver and leading up to a point that, as amusing as it would be to watch Brynn shut him down, I didn't care to watch.

I pulled my shoulders back as I stood, making my way along the bar to where the pair of them stood. The boy was so transfixed on my girl that he didn't even look away from her when I approached, only adding fuel to my annoyance. Brynn was quick to notice though, and I completely relished in the way her eyes lit up just at seeing me, her smile turning into something amused and triumphant.

_Fuck, _I thought. _This completely ruined my act of ignoring her. _

"Hey, baby," I greeted, making sure the pet name was loud and clear. My hands slid over the counter to grip her hips and pull her out from behind the register and in front of me. I dipped my head down to press a kiss against her temple, lingering just long enough to reassure myself that her scent was still laced with my own. My gaze slid over to the Forks Boy with little interest, hoping he could read that indifference clear on my face. "Who's this?"

I watched his face crumble, though he was quick to cover it up. "Uh, Bryce," he introduced, offering me a hand that I didn't respond to. I kept both my hands on Brynn, looking slowly from his face to his outstretched palm and back up, and he was quick to drop it. "Just making small talk while I paid, that's all."

"Uh huh." I nodded slowly, not even trying to convince him that I believed him. "You're still holding your cash."

"Right, um," he said quickly, tossing the bills on to the counter. "Sorry about that, ha. I have to go, but I'll see you around. Keep the change." Bryce's eyes didn't even glance at us before he was taking off for the door.

"Pussy," I muttered, still too agitated to fully bask in the humor his embarrassment gave me.

"Paul Lahote!" Brynn giggled, a delicate and feminine sound that easily set my mind at ease. She hit her hand against my chest as she pulled back to grab the money. "If you're just going to be ruining my tips, you can follow him out the door."

"Right, as if I'd be going anywhere but to my seat after that," I scoffed, smirking as I watched her shake her head at me while trying to stifle her smile. "Maybe if you weren't all sweet smiles and pretty eyes…"

"Easy, Lahote," she warned, her tone shifting as her eyes connected with mine. It was a clear warning. "You're walking a very, very thin tight-rope between cutely jealous and overbearingly possessive, and I'm not afraid to throw your ass out of her myself if you start going caveman."

"Tiffany would never allow it," I said, but didn't take her warning lightly. I knew that Brynn had more of a backbone than every girl I had ever touched put together, but I was still getting used to the lines I was allowed to cross and the ones that I wasn't.

Breaking up a conversation with her and another guy? She found that charming enough, amused and giggly every time I did it. Preventing the Pack from offering her the same affectionate greeting that Emily received? She had rolled her eyes, but there weren't any complaints. Hinting even slightly that it may be her fault the entire male species seemed to flock to her like bees to honey? Absolutely not. I understood why, too; me placing the blame on her appeared like I was distrusting or would mean she had done something wrong, which she never did.

"Sorry," I mumbled, only relaxing when I felt her fingers tug at my shirt twice. "I'll be good, promise."

"Mhm," Brynn hummed, humored but unconvinced. "You and 'good' exist on two opposite sides of the universe."

I chuckled and pressed another kiss to her cheek before sitting, her hands swatting me away as she bashfully looked around the diner to make sure no one had noticed. It wasn't a disinterest in PDA that had her acting so shy; she was thoroughly convinced that Tiffany Call would not be giving her any special treatment just because she was a friend of Embry's, and therefore the last thing she wanted to be caught doing was kissing her boyfriend in the middle of her workplace.

We stayed in occasional conversation for the next hour, Brynn's fingers running through my hair whenever she walked past me. Maybe it should have been boring, but I had plenty to do as I watched my imprint make her way around the diner, tucking tips into her little black apron and giving anyone who looked at her a smile that radiated as loudly as the sun. She was dressed in simple dark jeans and a blue, long sleeved Beck and Call's T-shirt with her hair in a braid down her back. With every passing hour, more and more hair came loose at her temples, framing the side of her face like a strange twist on the stereotypical halo.

Of course, a good moment could only last so long in the world we lived in. The howls were too far away for Brynn to hear, but I could tell that she picked up on my sudden attentiveness when her heart rate accelerated quickly. Silently, a gave a soft shake of my head, a silent answer to the unasked question that had her eyes so wide and her scent taking on a strong scent of fear.

"New members," I mumbled softly as she pretended to wipe the counter in front of me. "There's two this time."

Brynn's expression took on exactly what I was feeling: shock, confusion, and worry. Never before had there been two new Phases at once, and the fact that there was now didn't sit well with either of us. Sam had expected for more wolves to join eventually with the arrival of the Cullens and the ever present rogues that had been stomping on our land, but even he wouldn't have expected this. Another closer and more urgent howl hit my ears hard, my body standing against my will at the order Sam must have been putting into the call.

"I'm going outside," I told her softly, my hands sliding across the top of the counter to grip her waist in my hands. She didn't blush or check for watchful eyes this time, instead watching me closely. "I won't go anywhere, I promise you. Sam just needs me to know what's going on right now."

I couldn't wait for her response, the order pulling tightly at my body and forcing me to head out the door. I hadn't even made it to the treeline before Embry was coming into view, jogging towards me with an expression on his face that I couldn't quite read.

"You need to get over to the Clearwater's place," he said, running a hand through his hair. He didn't stop to talk to me, but he turned around to move backwards towards the entrance of his mother's restaurant. "I'll take care of B, but you need to go _now_. Sam needs you."

Waiting just long enough to ensure he got to the counter that Brynn was still behind, I quickly sprinted towards the woods nearest to the diner. I stripped and tucked only my shorts into the leather band around my ankle, Phasing mid-step and landing on four silvery paws as I launched myself in the direction of the Clearwater house.

_Get the fuck away from me! _A voice snarled loud in my mind. _I don't want anything to do with you!_

_Leah,_ Sam said calmly. _You need to let me help you. _

_Go fuck yourself! _

If it weren't for the quick instincts that came with being a shapeshifter, I would have slammed head first into the dirt as the words tripped me up both mentally and physically. Leah Clearwater had phased? The idea sounded so impossible that I almost didn't believe it. Sam's head was clear enough for me to get the image he was looking at; a small, white wolf with grey markings crouched threateningly in front of an even smaller, sandy colored wolf.

_No,_ I whispered, shock eating away at every other emotion. _Not Seth. _

_Who the hell is that? _Leah demanded, her ears pressing somehow even closer to her head as I stepped out of the caution of the trees. Her eyes locked on me instantly, her teeth barred in warning as she tried to step over her brother even more. _Stay away. _

_Leah, _Jacob soothed, the russet wolf standing near Sam. _Leah, you're part of this Pack now. You have to accept that. _

_She already knows what's happening? I asked, my eyes trained on Leah to make sure she didn't decide to lunge towards me. _

_That isn't what she cares about right now,_ Jared sighed, making his way towards me. _She's more focused on letting Sam know how much she hates him._

The white wolf bared its teeth once again, spittle flying from her gums as she turned her head to look at Jared and I. _Stay the fuck out of my head, Cameron_, she warned, vicious. _This is none of your business. _

_It's all of our business if you're going to be bitching about it all night, _I cut in, my head rising to my full height in an instinctual display of my power. _Give it a rest and Phase back so we can all go the fuck home. _

_This is kinda cool, _a new voice said, unusually enthusiastic amongst all of the ill tempered wolves standing around. _I mean, how many people get to say they turn into a wolf and have a Pack? I doubt too many can. Man, does this mean I have to get all these people Christmas gifts this year?_

It was so unexpected that the link was momentarily stunned into silence, not knowing what to say or how to process the emotions from Seth Clearwater. I hadn't ever met the kid, but even that couldn't keep me from hearing about the radiant child of Harry and Sue Clearwater. Logically speaking, it made sense for Seth to carry the gene, but between him only being fourteen and his personality seeming to be stuck in a loop of positivity, I never would have expected the kid to Phase. What the hell could make him that pissed off?

_None of your business_, Leah thwarted. _Get the hell off my property, all of you. _

_Leah,_ Sam sighed, the clear exhaustion the interaction had on him showing through as his head fell just a couple inches.

_Especially you_, Leah continued, locking challenging eyes on Sam. Her bravado was pointless; the second he met her gaze, her own dropped instantly, submitting.

Leah, Seth whined softly, standing from his previously cowering position. Let's just go inside.

_Like this? _Leah snapped, and I couldn't help but growl at the tone she used on the kid. _That's a great idea. _

_We could help you Phase back if you would shut the fuck up for two seconds and let Sam talk, _I pointed out, surprised when Sam didn't call me out on my attitude.

_Phase back, talk about what happens next, and then we can all be done with this_, Jared added, his tone almost desperate as a yawn opened his mouth. The sunlight glinted off his teeth, making the harmless action something that probably would've given children nightmares. _I'm fucking tired, man. _

_You're telling me, _Quil grumbled. _It's Paul's patrol and I have to pick up his slack while he babysits the newbies. _

Had that much time really gone by already? I had changed my patrolling schedule to ensure I had most nights with Brynn. Today was one of those days; the time she left the diner was ten minutes before my shift started, which meant I missed out on driving her home and spending a sliver of time alone with her. Without thinking, I threw another growl in the she-wolf's direction, fully blaming her inability to think straight on missing out on time with my imprint. Between patrols and the Cullens, I already had such sparse time with the girl without needing something as dramatic as Leah taking up yet another block of time.

_You need to calm down,_ Sam was saying, bringing me back to the setting before me. _If you continue to feel intense emotions, you're going to be stuck like this for awhile. _

_If you continue standing here like a fucking idiot, I'm going to cotniue to feel intense emotions_, Leah pointed out, sweethearted as ever.

_I'll help her_, Jacob groaned, sitting on his haunches as if preparing for a long night. _She won't get anywhere with you, and Seth doesn't deserve to be stuck hanging around just because of you two. _

_Fine,_ Sam agreed, and I didn't miss how relieved the word sounded. _Jared, Embry, you two stay here with Jacob to help him out. Paul, you go ahead and start on patrol so Quil can stop complaining. _

As annoyed as I was to be having patrol now, I took off from the yard with a bounce in my step at getting to be away from the Heartbreak Fest that seemed to follow Leah wherever she went. I made a quick first round to bring myself to Brynn's house, offering a quick yip as an apology and a greeting all in one. I was gone before I was able to see if she came to her window, but I could physically feel the fondness she had flowing through her as I went.

Despite how easily Brynn seemed to slip into my heart and life, I was steadily realizing that her presence was something that I wouldn't get used to. I expected it, welcomed it, but there was a part of me that seemed unable to comprehend that she was mine, willingly and happily and fully, and that she wasn't going anywhere. Coming from a background where affections were seen as weak or completely nonexistent, I had grown up on the surety that all I would need is an occasional warm body and Jared by my side. The thought made me nauseous now; I knew that Brynn never held an ill view of me for the sexual relationships I had in the past, but that didn't mean I was so quick to forget my own actions. If I had known, even for a second, that the way I felt now was a possibility, I never would have even looked at another girl. Brynn Price was worth waiting for, and I couldn't help but feel almost guilty that I hadn't.

The thoughts fizzled out like acid rain the second the scent hit me: Adrian. It was strong, mixed with heavy perfume as if he had been trying to mask it somehow. I would have rolled my eyes at the sheer stupidity of the leech, finding humor in his constant lack of confidence in what the Pack was capable of. If he thought a little perfume was going to hide his presence, he had another thing coming. I took off in the direction of the trail, following it passed houses and through the trees. I had just been about to howl for my brothers when I was stopped short.

As if the world was playing some sick joke on me after considering the guilt I felt about the girls I had slept with, one of the many conquests I had ventured into suddenly appeared in my vision. The sun was setting, leaving the woods darker save for where the tops of the trees were thin and allowed sunlight through. Sitting in the center beside one of those sunny beams, bundled up in a puffy purple jacket with her shoulders shaking with sobs, was none other than Katie Hughes.

Normally, I would never have even spared a second look in the direction of the girl. Crying alone in the woods seemed like a therapeutic thing for some people, and who was I to interrupt that? But the scent of vampire was still heavy in the air, like it clung to her, and I knew that leaving her out here with the possibility of her life being the one Adrian used to make his reappearance known. In the safety of the trees, I found myself two legs again and quickly stepped into the basketball shorts around my ankle. The lack of shoes would be seen as weird, but it was the lack of shirt that made me grit my teeth.

What would Brynn think, seeing me waltzing up to a girl that had spent time in my bed, shirtless in the privacy of the woods?

"Katie?" I asked, trying to keep the unease and urgency from slipping through my voice as I made my way to her. The scent only became stronger the closer I got, making my stomach twist. Had she somehow gotten away? Had Adrian heard my approach and chose to take off to get a head start? "You need to get home. It's not safe out here."

"Oh, Paul," she sobbed, her hands covering her face and keeping the distraught sight from me. "Paul, something came here! My cousin and I were taking a walk, and then suddenly-" she broke off into another fit of phlegm-filled cries.

My hand reached out to comfortingly grip her shoulder even as my heart hammered in my chest and my stomach plummeted. Adrian had taken Katie's cousin, that was why the scent was so thick. There was no body, which only meant that he must have taken it back to the old Baker house. Yet another message and yet another life used to give it.

"Katie," I said again, slowly. I squatted so she could see my face if her hands were ever moved. "Can you tell me what you saw? What did the thing look like?"

My brows furrowed as the clear cries turned into something different, something almost musical and amused. Her hands dropped from her face, not a single tear left on her skin as a red liquid clung to her shin and lips. Slowly, she opened her eyes and looked up at me.

They were bright red.

It happened too quickly; my body began the early stages of Phasing and then a hard, powerful blow to the side of my head knocked me sideways into the dirt. It slowed the transition, but didn't deter it entirely and I could still feel my bones reshaping when another, harsher blow beat into my head again. Black began to eat at my vision, the forest seeming to spin as I tried to shake the disorientation from my features.

"I think it looked something like me, weirdly enough," Katie giggled, my eyes barely able to register where her hands released a large, moss coated rock. "Sorry about this, Pauly. You really should've called me back."

With a groan, my head fell back against the forest floor as my upper body finally lost the strength it had to keep me closer to upright. She was still talking, skipping over to where I laid in a way that showed me just how unused she was to her speed. Her feet came to rest on either side of my head as she looked down at me, blood-stained lips pulled back in something between a victorious smile and a scowl of rage.

The battle between rage and worry were strong inside of me. It had been Adrian's scent I was tracking; the only logical explanation in my mind is that he hand selected a girl he somehow knew I had been involved with, used her like bait and lured me into a trap. With me out of the way, there was that much more access to Brynn. The thought made me want to growl, but my mouth seemed incapable of moving as I battled against my losing vision. I willed myself to reach out to Brynn, to try to tell her that everything was wrong, that she needed to get to the Pack immediately, but I felt no returning emotion that told me she had received it.

"Don't worry, Pauly," the vampire above me soothed, a mocking pout on her lips as the toe of her shoe drug across my jaw and up to my temple. "We'll take very good care of Brynn."

I knew what was coming, so I put everything I had into letting out as loud of a howl as I was able to give out, ignoring the pain that shot through my skull. Katie cut it off with a forceful stomp to my face, the blackening spots seeping throughout my vision entirely.

The last thing I thought about was Brynn Price.

**AN: Hey, guys! Sorry this one took so long and wasn't all that great, but I hope the interesting ending made up for the wait. Is anyone else on DracoTikTok right now? It has completely consumed me and between that and homework, I have completely neglected my babies. Don't worry though, after struggling through the first part of this chapter, I was able to restore my mojo (I think) and am ready to get back in gear. Tell me your thoughts when you review, review, review!**


	25. Fire

**FIRE**

Adrian paced around the room like a lion anticipating its prey, like a predator awaiting its meal to fall right into its trap. Of course that wasn't the case; though the wolf was most certainly in his trap, completely a victim, there was no chance of him ever becoming a meal. Collateral damage at best, surely, but no meal. He simply just needed the creature to upset Brynn enough into player martyr, and as soon as she ran into Adrian's awaiting arms, ready to sacrifice herself for the mangy mutt, it would all fall perfectly into place.

"Is it normal for it to take this long?" The girl asked, sounding bored where she checked her reflection in the mirror. She gingerly ran a damp cloth over her chin, ridding herself of the evidence that she had hunted and killed for her first time early that day. "You said they have super healing, right? Doesn't feel so super right now."

"He may have questionable abilities," Adrian said, his voice tight with annoyance as he addressed the girl. "But he is still very much human, which makes him weak."

Really, changing the girl had been a last resort. Adrian could only speak in people's minds, never hear what they thought, and so finding something that could potentially act as a lever over the wolf's head was quite the struggle. He had no family that he cared for, all of his friends were either protectors themselves or were being protected, and so that left him with nothing and a nearly impossible trip. Nearly. He had miraculously picked up on Katie Hughes' conversation with a friend when the two girls were out in Port Angeles, stalking them the moment he recognized the Quileute features. And how perfect it was that the girl was complaining about a Brynn Price, whining annoyingly over the loss of a boy she liked all because of the wretched new girl.

And, really, it was almost too easy from there.

The setting was dramatic, of course. Adrian had found a stone-shack, the floors wet, cold cement and the entire building being just one room. It wasn't the dreariness that drew him in though, but the unexplainable cement square that was thirty feet deep and just under five yards wide. He supposed it was an unfinished part of the building; a basement perhaps, or a cellar. Whatever it was served for the perfect holding cell for a particularly bad-tempered shapeshifter.

Now, looking down into the hole where the man laid unconscious against the cold ground, Adrian nearly felt giddy. His plan was coming along more than smoothly, and he was enjoying the challenge that Brynn Price was proving to be with each passing day. Avoiding him all her childhood by simply running had been a surprise, but finding herself in the midst of men who were prepared to lay their life on the line for her safety? What a very intriguing twist indeed. The wrecked car had been the first taste of Brynn that Adrian had ever gotten; he had paused in his stride to pull her free from the vehicle and to drag her away, but the smell was simply too intoxicating to resist. He had licked the blood from the windshield where her chin had struck, and though it was more than what he had hoped, it had also been the perfect distraction to get him chased off by one of the mongrels on the Native American reservation.

"What do we do next?" Katie asked, joining her creator at the edge of the drop and peering down at their victim. "When do we finally get her?"

"Patience, child," Adrian admonished, taking a side step to create more space between himself and the newborn. God, did he hate company. "I imagine the news has only just been delivered if not at all. Miss Price will join us soon, I don't doubt it."

There was a shuffling at the bottom of the pit, making both Adrian and Katie peer quickly over the edge of the square. Their hostage was coming to, groans leaving the man's mouth as his hands came to rub at his head. Adrian was almost disappointed; he had hoped for irreparable brain damage or something, anything to make the reunion between the wolf and Brynn that much more entertaining before he killed the both of them.

"Brynn," the wolf croaked, his voice sounding pained as he tried to sit up. It took him two attempts before he finally got it, his hands rubbing at his hair. There was a long pause as the creature took in his surroundings, his head never lifting up in a way that was too purposeful to be an accident. Then, finally, he spoke once more. "You'll never get to her."

Adrian beamed at the still present fight within the young animal. It had been apparent even before the vampire was changed that he preferred those that put up a fight and believed it made everything more interesting, more worth it in a sense. If the wolf had woken up and did anything in order to get out, including handing Brynn over with a red ribbon tied utop her head, he would not only be surprised, but disappointed. This, the snarl on the man's face and the harsh words he growled out, was much more appetizing.

"Now, now," Adrian tsk'd, waggling a pale finger down into the pit. "Is that any way to speak to your host?"

"Go fuck yourself," the man spat, and Adrian resisted the urge to smile.

"Pauly," Katie interrupted in a scolding tone, scowls now on the vampire and the werewolf's faces as they turned their faces to her. "Just tell us what we want to know so this can be done with. Brynn is going to die regardless, but I have a feeling Adrian will make it a little less painful if you cooperate."

_Not true_, Adrian thought giddily.

"And here I thought your voice couldn't get more annoying than it was in bed," the wolf, Paul, grumbled, shifting to lean his back against the damp wall of the pit. "Again, go fuck yourself."

Katie visibly bristled at the slight, her eyes going wide as her jaw became unhinged. To release some of her anger, she threw one of the cement blocks stacked near the door down into the pit. Amazingly, the wolf was able to catch the square with little more than a sigh, sliding it across the floor and under his legs. He was lounging, as if he had never been more comfortable in his life, and Adrian's excitement was a thrum in his veins as he considered the endless fun that would be breaking the man.

"Paul, is it?" The vampire asked though he had known for quite some time, leaning against a wooden beam close enough to the pit that he could still watch his prisoner. "We haven't been formally acquainted, I fear. I'm Adrian, it's a pleasure to meet you alas."

Paul's dark eyes narrowed slightly as he looked at his enemy, both by blood and by knowledge, as if he was considering something that was truly a task to figure out. When his words finally came out, they were slow and deadly, the ability to tie a pretend noose around someone's throat seeming to accompany them.

"Watching Brynn set you on fire will be the highlight of my fucking life," he said before his eyes slid over to the raven-haired woman still glaring down at him. "The second will be lighting _that_ on fire myself."

"Look around you, idiot," Katie hissed, beginning a slow pace around one side of the square pit. "You're in a fucking hole, incapable of getting out, and the last thing you should be doing is running your disgusting mouth. Brynn is going to die, and you are-"

"Keep her name out of your fucking mouth," Paul snarled, finally letting go of the relaxed facade as he sat forward quickly.

"Aw, so protective," Katie crooned with false adoration. "Since you care about her so much, we might let you watch her when we-"

The creature was up on his feet now, no sign of the head injury ever existing as he stood no steady feet. His hands were shaking, his chest rising and falling in quick, uneven breaths. Adrian had never witnessed a man turn into a wolf before, but he could read the expressions well enough to know that these certainly had to be signs.

"Katie, be a dear and grab the petroleum," Adrian said with a grin, flicking a hand towards the girl.

His eyes watched the man before him in amazement, a clear battle between two beings in one body, and accepted the container blindly when it was handed to him. He poured it into the pit, making sure splashes hit the heaving man more than anywhere else. A match was lit carefully, making sure no part of his flammable skin was near the small flare, before he was dropping it into the pit.

"No hard feelings, surely," the vampire sighed, grinning a vile smile as he looked down at the blazed man, watching his teeth grit together before the pain became to much and he was screaming, trying to roll his body to get the flame to diminish, to completely leave. "We just can't have you telling any of your friends our little plan. Surely you understand, don't you?"

The two vampires sat at the edge of the pit, watching flame bite from shoulder to chest to head to torso to legs, the flesh peeling away as the scent of tainted blood filled the air. A hose had been acquired, hanging limply in Katie's hands as they watched the man below them suffer, scream, but never beg. It was only when his body crumbled that Katie turned the spray on, dousing the flame just as quickly as Adrian had lit it.

"I see why watching bodies burn entices you, Paul," Adrian spoke, the body laying many feet below them unmoving aside from shallow breaths. "This truly is a delight. Highlight of my past hundred years."

He stood after admiring the way small pieces of flesh were already beginning to reunite over the wolf's wounds, making sure both the matches and the container of gasoline were nearby to ensure things ran smoothly later. He walked towards the opposite end of the house, grabbing an amount of chains so large that even he could feel the weight, but only slightly. Adrian passed them to Katie, a gleam to the crimson of both of their eyes.

"Be a good girl, Katie," he said, smiling brightly. "Chain the dog up."

**AN: Ouch, my heart. I'm bleeding out you guys, I swear. Fire torture? Seems a bit extreme for a first round, but maybe that's just me. The idea of having Brynn kidnapped was tempting, but I kind of wanted to dodge the stereotypical "damsel-in-distress-rescued-by-true-love" and so that meant Paul was taking the blow this time (sorry Paul). Where do you think this story is heading now, guys? Do you think this will be the only time they have to inflict pain on Paul? Tell me all about it when you review, review, review!**


	26. Sick

**SICK**

_Brynn_

The door to Sam and Emily's home swung open fast enough for the doorknob to leave a hole in the plaster despite the thick coats hanging there. All eyes snapped up to me instantly, all of them dark brown and not a single pair belonging to _him_.

"Where is he?" I demanded, my body moving on its own accord as I launched myself at the nearest body. It happened to be Sam, and he took my shoves without raising a hand to stop me. "Where the hell is he, Sam? How do you just-"

"Brynn," Emily whispered, so _calmingsweetgentle_ and everything that I couldn't take right now.

I knew that I had to look a mess; my hair was still entirely wet from the shower I had just taken, my eyes rimmed red and swollen, my cheeks flushed from the multiple times my hands had risen to wipe away the string of salty wetness that had dripped down them. I was hardly dressed, and my chest ached to think of what Paul would think if he saw me now, standing in nothing more than a sports bra and a pair of his boxers in the middle of the Pack, in the end of Spring.

But he wouldn't think anything about it, because he wasn't _here_.

"You need to find him!" I screamed, thumping my fists against Sam's chest once more. It wasn't his fault, I knew it wasn't his fault, but I couldn't stop myself. I felt arms wrap around me to pull me away from the Alpha, my arms pinned down from the grip, and I could've been sick at the familiar, but still so _wrong_ sensation of the heat on my skin. "They have him, they took him and none of you are looking! You're all here, eating fucking sandwiches and sitting around like it's fine to do it without him! _Let go of me_!"

"B, you know that isn't true," the voice near my head said, letting me know it was Jared who was clinging to me. "I would never let that hap-"

"I can't feel him!" I cried, my hands crushing against my chest as I let myself fall limp in his arms. "He isn't there, I can't feel him."

The thick silence that followed was enough to make it all feel too much. Worse, somehow. I had been sitting in the window seat, reading and happy and fine, when the emptiness hit me hard enough to make me gasp. He was there one moment, and then there was pain in my head that made me see stars, and then there was nothing at all. Not a blimp of happiness, not a hint of anger or fear. _Nothing_. The feeling had chilled my bones, left me locked and afraid, as if I was paralyzed. I wasn't sure how long I sat there, how many minutes or hours or years had passed before the phone rang.

It was Sam. Paul was missing.

"His blood," Quil started to say, but there was a scuffle and a grunt and then nothing.

"Don't," I hissed through my teeth, tearing myself away from Jared as I turned my eyes on the table of boys and a single woman. I didn't know the two new faces, but it was something that I cared so little about that I didn't even hesitate on their faces. "Do not sit here and keep things from me. This is _Paul_. This is _my_ imprint, _mine_. Tell me every single thing you know, or so help me…"

The threat fell into something ominous, and there was an exchanged of looked between a few of the wolves before they were all looking past me and to Sam.

"The smell of vampire was there, but it was mixed with something unfamiliar," the Alpha spoke after what felt like minutes had ticked by. I whirled to face him, my fists clenched at my sides, facing his words like a target on her backyard battlefield. "We found his blood on a rock. We can't be certain, but we think that whatever took him only knocked him unconscious. It could explain why you can't feel him anymore; he's not sleeping, he's completely knocked out."

"Or he's dead."

The words went through my lips before I could even think to suck them back, to keep them lodged in a place so far and deep into my mind that they were practically nonexistent. I couldn't keep them there because they were existent; loud, angry, red and existent. I felt suddenly wobbly on my feet, and I guess it was clear in my stance because Jared's hands were on my shoulders, seating me into the seat he had previously been in. I couldn't thank him, couldn't speak, but I hoped the squeeze I gave his fingers as they remained was enough.

"He's not dead," he whispered, but I couldn't tell if the words were meant to comfort and convince me or himself.

"Where did the trail go?" I asked, my eyes clenching shut as I tried to push away emotions, tried to rid myself of my heart so I could have full access to my brain, my rationality. "You followed it, didn't you?"

Another exchange of glances. Another silence.

"There were fifteen different trails, and none of them ended in a place that made sense. We think they used water as an advantage, mask their scents and throw us off of where they went." It was Jacob talking now, his eyes sorrowful in a way that told me he felt my paint, but knew I felt it more. "We planned on running the coasts and checking if we could catch a trail along the water."

"Then what are we waiting for?" I demanded, slamming a fist on the table in a way that was entirely dramatic, but I couldn't care enough about the thoughts of my actions. "Why aren't we out there?"

"B, I know you want to go," Embry started hesitantly, and there must have been something in my face that was powerful enough to not only have him dropping his eyes, but leaving his sentence entirely.

"I'm going." It wasn't uttered, whispered, demand; it was stated. It just was. There was no possibility of me staying in place, awaiting whatever ended up coming out of this entire situation. "I'm going, I'll call Rosalie and she will get a few of the Cullens to go, and we _will_ _find him_. We have to find him."

"B," it was Sam this time, his tone so soft that I knew he was about to give me the most backhanded words of all. "Listen to me, okay?"

But I couldn't. There was the inability to move, the inability to see, think, hear, smell, and then suddenly it felt like a rush of air flowing from deep in my chest and up and out through my mouth. The feeling of eyes on me was making my skin crawl, but I was in such a state that I couldn't do anything about it, couldn't even look back at anyone as I tried to figure out what was happening to me. I gasped at the sensation, momentarily startled by the intensity of whatever had just happened, but then I felt it: longing, worry, anger.

He was back.

My fingers gripped the gold chain and the charm around my neck, my eyes squeezing shut as I tried to send as much love, adoration, promise, and any positive emotion through the connection that the two of us shared. It was so strange, how I could feel when he received the little silent messages I gave him, and he tossed back emotions of his own. They made my heart shudder, my breath catch, and my eyes were welling with tears of relief and fear at the same time.

"I can feel him again," I whispered, all I could manage as I tried again to push to him. I heard someone sigh in relief, most likely Jared, and I couldn't help the watery smile on my face. "He's alive, he's breathing. He's angry- worried, maybe?"

"It is Adrian then," Quil nodded.

"Sick, evil fuck," Jared spat, his upper lip curling back from his teeth in a snarl. "He's using Paul as a way to lure Brynn in."

"So let him!" I shouted, standing from my seat and moving backwards towards the door so I could properly stare at everyone in the room. "I can go, I have my bow! I can-"

"_No_." It was the word that left everyone's mouths, some snarled and some growled and some whispered, but all statically firm and unrelenting.

My eyes scanned the room, wide and shocked, because it didn't make sense. There was such an obvious solution; I knew the risks, I knew the speed and strength of what I was getting myself into, but I also knew that Paul was in trouble. The decision was easy for me, but I could tell by just a quick sweep of everyone's faces that there as no way of making them bend to my idea. Already ideas were swirling up into my head: Could I sneak away? Could I make the trek on my own, find my own way there somehow?

"Brynn," Jared said, my name leaving his lip like a warning and a plea wrapped into one. "Think about Paul."

My jaw fell just slightly and I had the overwhelming urge to hit him. "How dare you!" I screamed instead, once again finding myself attempting to shove the solid form that was a shapeshifter body backwards, but failing. "That is exactly what I am doing, you asshole! That is all I am doing!"

"No, it isn't!" He shouted back, and the sudden raise in his voice was so unexpected that I couldn't help but freeze in my actions. "You think Paul wants you there? You think Paul would be able to look at any of us and see trust, see his _brothers_, if we let you go anywhere close to any of that by yourself? You would die, and he would blame everyone in this room for it. Every. Single. One of us. And you think we could live with ourselves if we stepped back and watched you walk into the hands of a fucking tick, a tick that has been trying to kill you since you were a newborn? Sit the hell down and shut up, because you're not going anywhere."

I loved Jared, loved him just as much as I loved everyone else in this room, but in that moment I could have sworn it was hatred flowing through me as I looked up at him. His eyes were lit with anger, with fear, but his face was stern in its expression and it was easy to read: _you can't argue because you will lose. _Desperately, I looked around the room for help, for any form of assistance that I knew I would never find, but it didn't stop the frustration that bubbled up into my chest when I looked at all of them and saw only stoic expressions.

"You can't," I pleaded, the room becoming a blur as once again, for the millionth time in just minutes, my eyes welled up with tears. The hands that had been shoving Jared now fell to my sides, exhausted by the overbearing emotions that seemed to take turns battering me into nothing. "Please, please, I-"

Then there was pain. Unlike the electric sensation that told me Paul's heart continued to beat, it was only my hearing that seemed to go fuzzy as I fell forward, nearly crashing to my knees before Jared's arms caught me. I screamed and screamed, my fingers picking at my skin as if I could peel off the very feeling of my flesh burning away, but each time my hand touched my skin it was unscathed, flawless, completely normal. Then the heat was on my face, obscuring my vision as my eyes clenched shut against the heat, my nails moving to claw at my face before they were stopped by something. It felt like hours were passing, my body thrashing and wriggling to try and escape the sensation that seemed to be eating me alive. My mobility was nearly nonexistent with the grip holding me still, and it seemed to only make the feeling worse.

Distantly, I could hear yelling. Emily screaming to help me, Embry begging Jared to let me go, Sam ordering everyone to make room as Jared and I both went crashing to the floor. His legs wound around mine, holding them still, and I screamed again as I felt flames, invisible but so painfully real, bite at the skin of my calves, behind my knees, my ankles. I was dying, I was so sure of it, my jaw hurting from the force I was using to clench it shut, to try and keep the sounds silent.

It seemed to last forever before it suddenly cooled, the heat slowly erasing from one side of my body to the other, and I was heaving so hard that I felt sick. My fingers, still there, not burned or missing or bloodied, reached to my chest once again, aching for the feeling of him, to know that he was alright and that whatever just happened to him was over. One, two, three, four heartbeats was what it took before I could feel something from him, so weak and small that I wasn't sure how trustworthy it was until I felt it again.

"They're burning him," I cried, my voice so weak from shouting that I was for once happy for the over sensitive hearing. "They're burning him alive, I could feel it. They're going to kill him, they're torturing him. Please."

"You could feel that?" I heard someone ask, but the exhaustion from the fight against a fire that didn't exist was too strong now, my eyelids dropping before I forced them back open, just to have them drop again.

"She is going to feel every little thing that he does," Jacob whispered, seeming to notice that I was on my way into subconsciousness. "It's going to kill her. She can't heal like we do."

"Sh." It was Embry this time. "She needs this."

When I awoke, I was in an unfamiliar area. The walls were wooden planks, the quilt covering me heavy and yellow, and that alone told me it was a room in Emily's home. Instantly, my hand moved to my chest, trying to bring a feeling to life, and I breathed out shakily at the stronger, more alive feeling that pulsed through my chest at the contact. I closed my eyes, trying to will something as impossible as telepathy to exist in the illogical world I was living in.

_Please, tell me where you are, _I thought. _Let us come save you. _

But there was no reply but another current shooting through my chest, and I held on tightly to that as if it was a written letter. This was all we had for now, and I would make it be enough until I got to see him again, was able to feel his warmth, his lips, look into his gold eyes and roll my eyes at his stupid, beautiful, annoying smirk.

"You awake this time, or are you going to fall back asleep?"

My head turned to see my father standing in the open doorway, catching the eye of a passing Embry before refocusing my attention on the older man. I wanted to smile or cry, I couldn't tell which, because he was here, and he could hold me and tell me what I needed to do.

As if sensing my thoughts, my dad pushed his way into the room and made himself a seat at the edge of my bed, his hand lifting to brush the back of his fingers against my forehead. I knew it was a useless gesture, but I let it happen anyway, relishing in what little comfort I could take from the contact.

"Paul," I tried to say, but it seemed as if my voice had not recovered with the rest of my body. I cleared my throat, sat up slightly, and tried again. "Paul was taken, I have to go to him."

"I know," he replied softly, his lips pressing into a thin line in the way that he did whenever he knew I was going to do something he didn't like, and argue when he tried to stop me. "They found another trail and caught a young vampire in the act. She was feeding, so it wasn't hard for the boys to take her down. Embry came back to tell us the news, but he's waiting on you."

"What for?" But even as I asked the question, I was already slipping my legs out from beneath the comforter. I was surprised to find that someone had changed me, no doubt Emily, into a pair of simple black, athletic leggings. My sports bra was still the only thing on my upper body, but I was quick to grab the charcoal hoodie off the corner of the bed stand when I noticed it.

"We want you to be a part of this as much as you can be," Embry answered, meeting her at the doorway. In his hand was her bow, her gloves, her matches. It was everything she would have wanted for something like this, and she accepted it all quickly, fitting everything into their respective positions. "I'm going to take you to where they're holding her."

That was really the only motivation I needed to begin moving my feet. The house was empty save for the two of us, my father, and Emily, and I made sure to give the woman the biggest hug I could when I saw her lingering in the kitchen. I knew last night couldn't have been easy on her, watching me scream at Sam, watching me in pain, and though I couldn't speak, I held her with every apologetic and caring bone in my body.

"Go," she said softly against my shoulder, her arms squeezing me one last time. "Bring him home."

When Embry and I got outside, I made my way towards the truck on instinct, but was stopped by his hand on my wrist.

"We're getting there a little differently," he said, and despite all the chaos and pain encircling us, I couldn't help but feel my lips twitch to match the small, but devious smile he was sporting. "Ever ridden a werewolf before?"

"In what context?" I asked, feeling like breathing got easier as he laughed next to me and began leading the way towards the treeline.

I stood on the opposite side as he changed behind the safety of trees, nerves and anxiety seeming to bind themselves around my joints as I thought about where we were going, what we were about to do. This could be the day that Paul rejoins his family, the day that Adrian burns to death with his body splintered into pieces. This could be the beginning of my life unhunted. Happy.

Embry stepped from the trees in the body of a light silver wolf, his face nearly white bordered by a darker greyish color, a single strip of the dark tone running along his snout. It was never short of amazing to see the Pack for what they truly were; they were built on beauty and power, and it was so clear when I stood eye-to-shoulder with them. My hand reached out to rub against his forehead, his ears falling back at the caress to allow the comfort it brought both of us. Then he was lying down, pressing his belly to the grass, and staring at me expectantly.

"Don't let me fall," I whispered, shifting the bow on my back to sit more comfortably before I was clambering on to the wolf. My fingers fisted the fur just behind the back of his neck, holding tight, and standing was the only action he did slowly before he was shooting off into the woods.

It was marvelous. The trees whizzed by us so quickly that I could not even focus my eyes on one before it was gone again. Any moment that I thought we may collide with a trunk, Embry was quickly angling out of the way gracefully and continuing on. This was their world and I knew that, but feeling the wind in my face, the forest smell hitting me harder and harder with each step, and laughing for the first time in forever, I realized that this was my world too, and would forever be.

It came to a quick end when the image of wolf bodies came into view. There were Jared, Jacob, Quil, and Sam, standing amongst two unfamiliar wolf bodies that must belong to the woman and boy who had sat at the table yesterday. Embry slowed his pace as we got to their little circle, and it took until we were a part of the shape before I realized what was going on.

Katie Hughes laid against the forest floor, each of her limbs held by snarling, sharp teeth or the massive expanse of a fur-covered paw. I knew it was her, I could tell, but the differences that came with her immortality were so stark that I could hardly believe it. Her russet skin was smooth as if a filter was laying over her skin, her hair shiny in a way it had never been, her lips full of color from more than just the blood leaking from her mouth. Then there were her eyes, so distinctively crimson and murderous without a speck of any other color, and they were completely locked on me.

"Oh, finally!" The vampire spat, her lip in such an ugly snarl that I momentarily forgot that I was the one with the upper hand. "The Pack whore is here."

There was a vicious sound coming from each wolf, but it was the dark brown, masked wolf that reacted physically rather than just verbally. His jaw snapped around the wrist it had been holding, barely having to move his head before the girl's hand was removed completely. Katie shrieked her pain and anger, trying to use the stub that was now her arm to swing out, but Jared was quicker and snatched it between his teeth again. She was outnumbered, weak from her new and unsteady body, and she would die.

"Where is he, Katie?" I demanded, sliding from Embry's fur with a struggle before he lowered himself to the ground to make my descent easier. The second my feet hit the floor I was docking an arrow, lighting it before I truly thought it through. "Tell me now."

"Oh, Brynn," the vampire purred, her lips pouted in a sympathetic expression that laced thickly with sarcasm. "I tried to warn you he was a little promiscuous, you know. I'm sure he's just having a go with another- stop!"

Her words broke off into a scream as I fired my arrow blindly in the direction of her dismembered hand. Even with the sharpness of the arrow, it bounced off the marble vampire skin completely, but not before the fire could catch. Her hand erupted into flames instantly, the wet leaves and sticks surrounding it being almost untouched.

I made my way closer to the vampire, ignoring the whine of who I could only assume was Quil, his chocolate colored wolf being closest to where the sound came from. I stood with my legs on either side of the thing's ribs, a newly docked arrow with a newly lit flame pointed directly at her head.

"I'm going to try this again," I said evenly, able to feel the hatred and anger burning from my chest, and I could only imagine what Paul could be thinking about the feeling. "Where. The fuck. Is he?"

"You wont kill me," Katie said, but even in her newly tuned voice I could hear the waver, the uncertainty. The fear. "You don't have it in you."

"Who said anything about killing?" I responded with a scoff, tilting my head to the side in my own display of mockery. "I could leave you here, legless, armless, completely decapitated, and you would have no choice but to just stay here for the rest of your life, which would be very, very long. You couldn't run, you couldn't crawl, and if I tell them to remove your lower jaw, you wouldn't even be able to call for help. You would spend centuries upon centuries right here, on this forest floor, wishing that you would have cooperated or wishing that you would have been killed."

There was a thick silence that followed my words, the fear that Katie had bit back now shining in her eyes without a guard to hide it. Whatever opinion she had about my person was now shifted, and she feared for her life because of me.

"I can take you," she said rushed, desperate. I shook my head softly, feigning disappointment before pointing to the arm Jacob was pinning. "No, please! I don't know how to tell you! He wouldn't let me see! We were in water, then we went through a murky place, like a cave. Please, please don't take my arm!"

I held up a hand to pause Jacob as the 'skin' his teeth sank into began to have spiderweb cracks throughout it. He growled his frustration, but paused regardless. I don't know why they were listening to me; maybe they knew that this was my fight, that they were just on my side and they knew I needed to lead this one. Regardless, I had so much gratitude for the wolves surrounding me, even the two that I didn't know. We were in this together, they had my back, and that meant everything to me right now.

"So he's in a cave?" I asked, tilting my bow so the lit arrow was pointed more towards the vampire's throat.

"No," Katie said quickly, shaking her head. A snarl left the white wolf who held the creature's leg as she tried to move it, causing the vampire to quickly apologize, to beg. "He's not in a cave! It's a stone building, I don't know! I never saw it before now. There's a pit inside; that's where he's being kept. I think we went through a cave to get to where the building is, but Adrian doesn't let me look until we are at the door! I swear, that's all I know!"

Sam stepped forward then, his eyes trained on me. I couldn't hear what he was trying to tell me, but I knew that this place was something they knew, something that they had possibly been to before. The wolf's head nodded once at me, and despite the lack of verbal communication, I knew he was telling me that this information was all we needed. That I could finish this.

"Was it worth it, Katie?" I asked, taking slow steps back so my feet no longer framed her cold, undead body. "Did being the exact thing you were told stories about, the exact thing you were supposed to fear and despise, make getting revenge on him worth it? You burned him! You sat and watched his body get eaten by flames, and you did nothing!"

"I'm sorry!" She cried, but no tears came from her eerie eyes. "I knew he could heal, it was the only reason I even did it! I just wanted- I was upset, Brynn! But I knew he could take it, I knew that it would all be fine!"

I didn't dignify the stupidity that came falling from her mouth with a response. I let the arrow fly, watched it hit her stomach, fire spreading quick, before it bounced away. The wolves held her limbs as the vampire screamed, only letting go when the fire came too close to their muzzles. Jared hadn't finished though, and he launched forward, flames be damned, to tear her arm from her shoulder. The aggressive action had the other wolves growling and pacing, wanting to join but knowing better. I didn't move until her screams ended, until I knew there was no chance for her to get up, to run.

My father had always said that an opponent is only worth fighting if they endanger you or they put your life at risk. _Don't be a hero_, he would lecture. Katie Hughes had been a girl that showed me around the Quileute School when I first arrived at the reservation, and now she was the first person, first thing, that I had ever taken life out of, no matter how abnormal that life may be.

I watched the flame, expecting a coldness to seep through me, for guilt and disbelief to run through my veins due to the awful thing I had just done. It never came, instead I was laced with pride, with a restoration of hope and determination. I was a human girl standing amongst wolves, and I had never felt like I belonged more.

When the fire fizzled out and there was nothing but ash as it went, I turned towards Jared. His eyes were already on me, dark and framed by the dark mask his fur created around the feature, and there was an understanding that shot between the two of us. My fingers gripped tight to his fur as I climbed on to his back, his body standing when I was positioned safely. The sandy colored wolf and the white wolf trotted away from the scene, no doubt an order from Sam to keep guard of the reservation, and then the rest of the Pack was moving.

I could feel the worry flowing through my chest, almost able to hear Paul's voice asking, "_What trouble are you getting into _now_, Price?" _One of my hands came up to clench the chest of the hoodie I wore, my eyes closing in complete trust that Jared wouldn't let me fall as I willed with everything in me for him to head my thoughts.

_We're coming, Lahote. _

**AN: Bum, bum, bummm. So, not only does Brynn have anger issues, but she enjoys to torture the defenseless! I'm just kidding; if someone had taken part in setting someone I love on fire, odds are I would have been pretty angry, too. So, Paul doesn't get to kill Katie which is sad, but do not fret. I have this strange feeling that there will be plenty of vampire death coming up in the future… Weird. Tell me your thoughts on this chapter when you review, review, review! **


	27. Snip

**SNIP**

It became very clear to the vampire just how human the werewolves truly were. Despite the exquisite healing properties that the Quileute wolf-men were gifted with, it appeared that there was a price to be paid as the man in binds slept for hours and hours. Adrian supposed he didn't mind too much; it gave him the benefit of watching the skin regrow over the burns, watching as each individual pore and hair follicle returned in most areas. Only a few places were unsalvageable, plagued by wrinkled skin that adorned nothing but scar tissue.

They had bound the beast into chains, thick and triple layered over his wrists, against his throat, and locking around his ankles to pin him against the wall. They had freed him from the pit in favor of making him easier accessible, figuring the two vampires would easily take down the weakened animal if he so happened to free himself.

When the man began to stir, early enough in the morning that the sun still hid, Adrian was gleefully smiling. He watched the wolf wince, cringe, attempt to move, and swear. Dark brown eyes opened to take in his new surroundings, and the vampire could visibly see him figuring out an out route, how he would slip away when he got the chance, or how long he could hold the vampire until his friends returned. It was most interesting, seeing the almost-human contemplate, but it got boring after only a minute.

"Welcome back, Mr. Lahote!" He cheered, standing near the pit as he watched the werewolf come to. "Was growing a little impatient there, surely you understand."

"Fuck," the man seethed through gritted teeth. "You."

"Ah, yes, you have more than once proved your small vocabulary," Adrian said with a roll of his blood-colored eyes. "Though things did get very colorful when you woke a few times while Katie stabbed you. You'll have to excuse the messiness of the wounds; she doesn't have an eye for symmetry, it seems."

"I think they look rather artistic," Katie huffed, standing from the rickety table and grabbing the blade from the floor. "Could always try again, I guess."

"Do your fucking worst," Paul spat. "Might as well get out all your frustrations on me, because you won't lay a cold, dead finger on her."

It was amazing to witness love so devoted. The man had taken to using Brynn's name as little as possible, most likely because he had deemed the two vampires unworthy of hearing it, but even the word 'her' came out with such an entirely different tone than the rest of his words did. Adrian could feel the caress around the word, could feel the protection and promise within that single syllable. He truly believed what he was saying.

"No, no, young Katie," Adrian interrupted, just as the point of the female's dagger was trickling down the uncovered upper torso of the man. "We want him alive. If we continue this, he will die too soon to be of use to us."

"No, have at it," the man snarled, struggling against his bounds enough to have them shaking, but unrelenting. "This ends with one of us dying, leech. She _won't_ ever come here."

"Yes, yes," the vampire sighed, waving a hand in boredom. "Your people are protecting her, they won't let her, yadda yadda. You have said this before."

"Then why the fuck haven't you killed me yet?"

"Because I know that you are wrong." Adrian moved to stand directly in front of their bound prisoner, looking him in the eyes. He could see the anger and hatred that burned alive inside of the man, but there was a tinge of fear there. Adrian was not foolish enough to believe the fear was for himself; he wasn't sure if Brynn would stay where she was supposed to, either. "Why is it that you doubt her love for you so strongly? I admit, I don't know Brynn nearly as well as I like to know them before I take them, but she wears her emotions freely. When she finds out that you are in trouble, she will come. When she shows up, we will slowly drain every inch of life from her body."

"You won't fucking touch her," Paul shouted, the sound coming out as more of a growl than anything else. His body strained harder against the chains this time, and Adrian watched as two links snapped from the force, causing one chain to fall away and clatter to the ground.

"Katie, be a dear?" He asked, gesturing to the creature before him. "I believe he has more energy than I originally thought."

"Gladly," Katie hissed, stepping forward with her blade once more.

The knife drove shallow lines into tan skin at first, criss crossing over the disappearing marks and opening the scars once more. Katie liked to play with her victims, it seemed, and once she saw that Paul was taking the light slashes so easily, she opted for a different route. The tip of her knife dug into zones that Adrian had told her were painful, but ultimately harmless. He watched as half of the dagger disappeared into the man's skin, listened to his breath wheeze, before she was repeating it in another place.

Never did he scream. The male vampire was beginning to realize he saved that for life-threatening instances only, which was strange even from a human that had unnatural abilities. Briefly Adrian wondered if the man was used to pain, but the idea dispersed just as quickly as it had arrived: that did not matter. What mattered was keeping him weak, defenseless, and alive until Brynn Price came through the door.

It was clear the stab wounds wouldn't suffice for the beast; he seemed to run on anger alone, keeping his eyes open despite the pain that had to be rushing through his body. Occasionally he would throw out comments to spur Katie on even more, a sick display of complete insanity that Adrian didn't have the patience for.

So, they beat him.

There were audible cracks that came from his ribs as the two vampires shoved their fists into the were's sides, each taking two turns before the man was completely spent. Bruising was immediate, and the lack of food mixed with the energy the body required to heal had them fading much slower than the burns had. Adrian was satisfied when Paul's head rolled back, breath heavy but eyes shut.

"Can I go hunt? Even his foul blood has me starving," Katie asked, running her fingers through her hair casually, as if there wasn't a man in chains beside them.

"May I," Adrian corrected, checking the security of the chains before nodding. "Grab your blindfold, I will lead you out."

It was only a safety precaution to ensure that if Katie had a change of heart, it would not interfere with Adrian's plans. He had lied to the girl quite a bit to get her to side with him, speaking as if Brynn's mother had killed one of his loved ones, and that was the reason behind his hunting her daughter. The girl was unintelligent and jealous, and it didn't take much convincing to get her to lure her former lover into the hands of death. Not that she knew there was a plan to kill him eventually, but that was a truth for another, later time.

He took her to the mouth of the cave that offered as a tunnel from the building to the ocean, getting her entirely into the water and away from the cave before allowing her to remove her blindfold. The water lapped at her hair, dampening it, and her eyes shone as the cloth was lifted.

"I want you to return within two hours," Adrian said firmly, fingers clutching her chin to meet his eyes. "Do not go to the Quileute land. Hunt somewhere else, somewhere safe. I will meet you here when you are finished and lead you back."

Katie only nodded her confirmation that she understood before she was gone, disappearing beneath the tides and making her way towards wherever her nose took her. The male vampire did not wait around to see where she popped out, an inch of trust that would cost him later, before he was making his way back to the makeshift prison.

The man was still in his binds when Adrian returned, but his eyes were open and blinking slowly in the direction of the door. His cuts were no longer bleeding, but the scars looked raw as they held the skin together. Litters of purple, blue, black littered the brown skin, making it look like the aftermath of a horrible painting accident or a decent car crash.

"Welcome back," Adrian muttered, drawing back the heavy cloth on one of the windows to peer out, as if Brynn would be there randomly.

"I'm going to kill you," Paul rasped.

Adrian frowned. "I can't see what my Brynn sees in you, quite frankly," he admitted with a sigh. "Between the few words, the insistence on dying, and the severe lack of intelligence-"

"She isn't yours," he interrupted, the words hitting the vampire like a small fire from the heat. "She's _mine_."

"And possessive? I hear that's a toxic quality in relationships these days, perhaps I am simply sparing her."

"I'm going to kill you."

"This has been the longest day of my life. Do you know how long I've lived?"

"Long day? Maybe you should kill yourself."

"Now that is just rude. I'm adding that to the list of undesirable qualities that you seem to have an abundance of."

"You can shove your list up your undead ass."

This was how it went for the next two hours. Occasionally, when Paul would attempt breaking his chains, Adrian would throw a few punches to get him close enough to passing out that he knew his body would be too weak to heal him from quickly. It was a cycle, dirty words thrown along with fists, and it was one that the vampire did not care for at all. His eyes glanced at the watch on his wrist regularly, nearly jumping for joy and relief when two hours had gone by.

"I'm going to knock you out now," he informed, fixing the way his blazer set on his shoulders.

Paul snorted, though it looked like it caused him pain to do so. "This is new. Very exciting. Fuck you."

He was out on the second hit.

When Adrian got to the place he had told Katie to meet him in, there was no nerves at her lack of appearance. She was a young woman, wearing a stolen watch that she didn't ever remember to check, and so he figured perhaps she would be running late. But seconds ticked into minutes ticked into nearly half an hour, and the dread began sinking in.

She was a young woman, she was wearing a stolen watch, and she was an idiot. Never had she been this late, and seeing as she had a knack for targeting those that lived on her old stomping grounds, perhaps Adrian himself was the idiot for trusting her to run off on her own. His mind flushed out, searching for hers and finding nothing, nothing, nothing. She was either too far away to connect with, or she was dead. He checked the time again, swearing to himself before he made his way back towards the building.

He did not have much time at all. He would not make the mistake of thinking the mongrels were slow or weak this time; he had seen first hand how quick they were, and even as weak as Paul was, he was still packing alarming strength. He made his way through the door, tapping at his forehead with his middle and index fingers as he thought of what to do next. The idea came together like destiny; the setting, the shock value, the drama of it all. It sang to him like a bird, though it was one he had not expected or desired.

He would need the Wolf.

As if the Lord was looking down on him, Paul began to stir yet again. This time there would be no punching, no stabbing, nothing but the strong power of verbal force to spoon feed the animal exactly what he needed to sprout his little tail. He gave it two, five, eight minutes before he deemed the man well enough to be capable of the task.

"It appears your friends caught on much sooner than I would have expected," Adrian admitted, rubbing his temple at the irritation this caused him. "That's alright, Paul. Perhaps it was always meant to be Brynn and your baby that died together, instead of the two of you."

The words worked like magic; the man snarled something vicious, spittle flying from his curled lips. The wounds on his body had stopped bleeding, but the vampire watched as they tore open again as the man's skin stretched and then changed, the man falling forward on four silver and grey legs, the broken chains falling around him. He wasted little time for anymore fun talk, launching a cement block in the direction of the animal. The first one the beast smashed through with his teeth in a lunge for the vampire, but he hadn't expected the second one and it clipped him against his skull. The wolf shook it off, only slightly dazed but weak from abuse, and it gave Adrian enough time to send yet another barreling down at the animal. This one connected harder, knocked the wolf off its already unsteady legs, and he went down with a growl.

Adrian finished the rest of the work with his fists, something he didn't prefer but would do in a pinch. He didn't stop until the wolf's eye rolled back, and then he flung the monstrous body on to the floor near the entrance to the small structure.

The wolf laid unconscious, blood seeping from a wound in his head that had splayed him out. There was little time for Adrian to admire his handiwork; typically he hated deadlines, but this was one that had him feeling lit with a chill, alive with the need to get this task done before the other's arrived.

The blade he picked up was rusted, coated in the dried blood from their previous little games and interactions, but the blade was sharp and that was all that mattered. He moved the wolf's limbs and tail so they were splayed out, and when they didn't straighten the way he wanted them to, he broke them so that they would. The wolf made no more sound than an occasional grunt or huff. Adrian grabbed fistful after fistful of the coarse grey fur, sliding the knife as far down as the hair allowed and slicing it away. He moved quickly, using all his supernatural abilities to complete the job as perfectly as possible. Paul laid still beneath him, pain and blows keeping him still for his captor. Clump after clump flitted to the stone floor, a mess of blood, skin, and fur. The blade nicked skin more than it should have in Adrian's rush to complete his job, but stepping back and admiring his handiwork, he imagined the cuts and gashes perhaps added to the scene before him.

"Always wanted my own werewolf-skinned rug," he sighed, picking at his nails with the point of the blade. "It's a shame I couldn't keep this one, but I imagine my visitors will admire it well enough."

He pressed his back to the door to admire his handiwork, tilting his head to the side slightly to make sure nothing was out of order. The fallen fur he brushed aside and into the pit, deciding it made his scene look messy, and he couldn't have that. He waited and listened, waited and listened, and it was only when he heard the footfalls of multiple feet that he fled.


End file.
